Adventures in War
by Snowman23
Summary: Vyse and Aika have arrived in Gallia by ship, only to find that a war has broken out in the country they came to seeking adventure. Together they jump ship and sign up to fight against the empire, who will they meet, what will happen...read to find out.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1- So starts another adventure**

On Gallias western ocean a large passenger vessel was beginning to pull into a harbor located in a small town with Randgriz castle visible in the distance. A young man wearing an eye patch named Vyse strolled up to the starboard side of the ships railing and looked out at the new land infront of him.

"A new land, new possibilities, new adventures!!." shouted Vyse at the top of his lungs.

People on board began looking at this strange young man, when suddenly a young girl quickly rushed up to him. "Shh, Vyse!. Why do you always have to be so loud...I can only imagine the kinds of troubles you'd get into if I wasn't here." said the young girl.

Vyse laughed, "Oh Aika, you need to learn to relax alittle. Enjoy life, let loose you know." said Vyse.

"Oh please Vyse, I have my hands full keeping you in line all the time." said Aika, Aika then stared out at the new land before them. "Vyse, are you sure you want to get off here?." asked Aika

"Yeah, why not?." asked Vyse "This is a chance for us to have many more adventures!, who knows what this new land holds for us."

"It's just that, we've travelled countless thousands of miles, visited so many places, done so many things. Don't you think it's time to settle down and pick a place to call home from now on?." asked Aika

Vyse looked down for a moment, And Aika could tell that he was taken her question under deep consideration. "Tell you what Aika, let's explore this new land for a while and I'll tell you my answer afterwards. I just want to see what kind of adventures we can have here." said Vyse.

Aika smiled, "Hehe, sure Vyse. It's just you and me baby." said Aika.

As the ship neared the harbor Vyse and Aika could hear a group of the ships officers talking amongst themselves near the wheel house of the ship. The looks on their face was one of fear, then all around Vyse and Aika people on board began to whisper to one another, not long after some began to cry and shake in fear.

"Vyse...what's going on?" asked Aika, Vyse looked around, but shook his head.

"I don't know, but stay here. I'm going to find out." said Vyse, Aika continued looking at the scared passengers as they continued to talk amongst themselves.

Vyse then approached the group of officers. "Excuse me sir, what's going on?." asked Vyse.

"It's seems the empire nation of Europa has just declared war on the small nation of Gallia." said one of the officers.

"War?!?." said Vyse, despite how many different lands he and Aika had travelled to, never had they been in a country that was at war.

one of the officers ducked his head out of one of the wheel house windows, "New orders, we're heading away from Gallia.", the group of officers quickly dispersed and began to run around the ship to prepare to pull away from Gallia and head back out to sea.

But unlike everyone else, fear was not something that gripped Vyses' heart, it was the thrill of a new and exciting adventure. Vyse quickly rushed back to Aikas' side.

"Vyse, what's going on?." asked Aika, "How come we're changing direction."

"Aika, a war has just broken out in this country." said Vyse, a large grin spreading across his face.

"Oh no...your not thinking what I think your thinking are you." said Aika, Vyse then reached down and took hold of Aikas' hands with his own.

"Aika, you have been my best friend and travel companion for as long as I can remember. But if this is one adventure that you do not want to take part in I will understand. This may be the most dangerous adventure yet and I don't intend to stay here and miss it." said Vyse. He then pulled Aika close and gave her a big hug.

Even though Aika and Vyse were only friends, the hug made her heart beat quicker. Vyse then pulled away from Aika, reached down and grabbed his backpack and suitcase and climbed up onto the railing. He then looked back at Aika and smiled, before jumping off the railing and into the water, creating a large splash before disappearing beneath the waters surface.

Aika remained on board, pacing back and forth. The thought of war terrified her, but she closed her eyes and pictured the smile Vyse gave her before he left the ship. "Oh man...I can't believe I'm doing this..." said Aika as she reached down and grabbed her suitcase, climbed the railing and lept off the ship into the cold blue water.

Meanwhile, Vyses' head emerged from the water, he quickly got his bearings and began to swim for shore. Shortly after he set foot on the sandy beach of the new land known as Gallia. Vyse then looked back and saw the ship steaming away from Gallia, out towards the outer ocean. Vyse quickly looked around, but saw no sign of Aika.

Vyse sighed sadly, "Farewell Aika, looks like I go alone from here." said Vyse.

Suddenly Aikas' head appeared from the water nearby, Aika then reached the beach and slowly trudged out of the water, soaked to the bone. She then spit out some ocean water, "Ugh...salty." said Aika as she walked up to Vyse.

Vyse just stared at Aika, some tears began to form in his eyes, but he quickly shut them and chuckled. "Hehe, looks like even war can't stop you from tagging along." said Vyse.

Aika laughed, "Haha, of course. Who else would be willing to put up with you and keep a guy like you in line." said Aika. Aika then stood by Vyse as they both looked out at Castle Randgriz in the distance.

"Well Aika, you ready for another adventure?." asked Vyse.

Aika nodded, "Of course, It's just you and me baby." said Aika, it was a line that Vyse never got tired of and rather enjoyed hearing coming from Aika.

"Alright!, let's go!!" said Vyse, running along side Aika as the duo headed towards Castle Randgriz, surrounded by a large impressive looking city.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2- new comrades...new enemies?**

Aika and Vyse stood on the outskirts of Randgriz city, close to them many blue, red and white tanks were rolling along down a road leading into the city, following close behind them were dozens of soldiers, dressed in blue, red and white uniforms.

Vyse looked over at Aika, "Guess we know the national colors of this country." joked Vyse, Aika chuckled nervously.

"Vyse, this looks pretty serious. I don't think I've ever seen this much military activity in any of the previous lands we've visited." said Aika.

"Hey you two!!" shouted a loud, commanding voice. Aika grabbed a hold of Vyses' arm as she jumped in surprise and both of them turned and saw a very large, stern looking man, dressed in the military uniform of Gallia walking towards them. He was so big that Vyse and Aika had to crank their heads up just to see his face.

This large man had brown hair, along with a blue and golden eye patch covering his left eye, he had his hands placed on his hips in a displeased manner. "Why aren't you two in uniform, incase you hadn't heard there's a war on!!." said the military officer.

Aika squeezed Vyses arm even more tightly in fear, Vyse winced in pain. "I'm sorry sir, but we are not from this country. We're just visitors" said Vyse, the large officer removed his hands from his hips.

"Oh, I apologize, I guess you do not know the customs and laws of our country then." said the officer, he then stood up straight and saluted both Aika and Vyse "I am Drill instructor Rodriguez, and it is currently my duty to train, as well as round up any able-bodied Gallians to fight against the invading empire."

"Round up?." asked Aika.

Rodriguez nodded, "Yes, you see in Gallia we are a very small country, who to this day holds a very firm standing of Neutrality. We belong neither to the Empire to the east, or the federation to the west. That being said, one of Gallias national laws states that all citizens, male or female are eligible to be drafted into military service in a time of war." said Instructor Rodriguez

Rodriguez could see Aikas' eyes spinning in circles at all the new information she was taking in about the new country she and Vyse were in. "I think I've explained enough for now, also used up precious recruitment and training time. So I will say good day." said Rodriguez, he then saluted Aika and Vyse once more and started to walk away, but turned around once more.

"And I'm am sorry to the both of you, Gallia is normally a very peaceful place. It's such a shame you had to visit during a time of war." said Rodriguez.

A military jeep then pulled up beside Instructor Rodriguez, "Sir, refugees are making their way here from Bruhl, that town has fallen to the Empire's armies." said the solider in the passenger seat.

Rodriguez looked down at the ground and cursed, "But I do have a bit of good news sir, one brave Bruhl citizen managed to take out over a dozen Imperial soldiers and destroyed an enemy tank, all while helping many of Bruhls citizens evacuate...he's a hero sir."

"Is that so...this early into the war and we already have a hero on our side." said Rodriguez, "Normally I don't like heros or show boating, but in this case it brings a smile to this old face."

Just then everyone could hear a low rumbling, slowly growing louder as everyone looked to the south and saw a large Gallian tank approaching the city, a large convoy of trucks carrying many of Bruhls refugees followed close behind the tank.

Vyse and Aika watch the tank approach and saw a girl in a blue and white outfit, wearing a red and white scarf on top of her head sitting on top of the tanks turret, talking to a young man in a brown coat and wearing a white shirt, wearing a headset as well.

Both of the young man and girl stopped talking just long enough to look down and see Aika and Vyse standing on the side of the road, staring at them in awe. The girl smiled and waved, the young man did as well, the tank then rolled passed them and into the city.

"I wonder where their uniforms were?." asked Aika.

"My guess is that that boy is Bruhls young hero, And the draft has only just begun so I think he and many of Bruhls citizens are heading to the military base to join the militia." said Rodriguez "Well I am off now, I need to report back to base, seems I will soon have alot of new recruits to whip into shape", Drill Instructor Rodriguez then hopped into the back of the jeep, which soon drove off into the city.

Vyse looked over at Aika and raised an eyebrow, Aika's eyes grew wide open and she immediately shook her head. "Oh no...no no no, never, no way!!" said Aika, Vyse just grinned and headed off towards the city gates.

Aika put her hand against her forehead and sighed, "_Oh man, I knew he was going to join the moment someone mentioned the word 'Hero'_." thought Aika.

Two hours later, after lots of asking for directions, Aika and Vyse reached the militia military base. The sheer size of it was amazing, there were tank hangers, a large training facility, lots of military barracks and a giant building in the center of it all.

As Vyse and Aika looked around, they were very surprised to see that there were just as many female soldiers as there were male soldiers walking, marching and training in the base. A large group of girls were walking together, dressed in full uniform, chatting and giggling together.

"So did you hear, Squad 7's new commander is a total hottie." said one blond haired girl with a pony tail on the right side of her head near the back.

"I heard that he is the son of a famous general from the last Europan war...I think the Generals name was...Gunther. General Gunther." said a brown haired girl. Vyse was amazed at how much equipment she was carrying on her back. She had a large box of ammunition, lots of grenades, a shovel and lots of different pouches carrying who knows what else.

"No way...I know a guy named Welkin Gunther. We went to the same University together. He was SO handsome...abit of a nature freak...but did I mention that he was handsome!!." said a blond haired girl, wearing glasses, she was also carrying a rifle and a set of binoculars.

"Hehe, I know, he's like totally the whole reason I joined the militia. I hope he selects me to join his squad." said a long, brown haired girl. Aika was surprised to see that she was smaller then she was, yet she was carrying an enormous weapon that looked like a medieval lance. As well as a giant armored plate on her left arm. Yet she looked naturally comfortable carrying it around.

"Lieutenant Gunther, Squad 7." said Vyse out loud as the group of girls passed him and Aika.

"Taking notes?" asked Aika, smiling brightly. Vyse nodded.

"Excuse me, are you two lost?." said a soft female voice, Aika and Vyse turned around and saw a small girl with very dark blue, almost black hair smiling at them. She was wearing the same gear as that overly packed girl loaded with all those tools and ammunition on her back and belt.

"Oh yeah, we were wondering...hoping that we could sign up for the Gallia Militia." said Vyse.

The girl tilted her head, "Why would you wonder that, it's a draft, you don't really get to decided whether you want to join or not." said the girl.

"Oh you see, we are not from this country, we're both adventurers. Is it alright if we join the Militia." said Aika.

The girl gasped, "Well I must say...I don't think I've ever heard of people from another country wanting to join in a foreign country's war." said the girl.

"Yeah, that's us. I'm Vyse by the way, Vyse Inglebard." said Vyse.

"And I'm Aika, Aika Thompson, nice to meet you." said Aika.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I should of introduced myself the moment I met you." said the girl.

She stood up straight and saluted "I am Squad 7, 1st class Engineer Nadine. Just call me Nadine."

Just then a young lady with red hair in two large buns on her head walked past and scoffed. "Tsk, I can't believe a Darcsen is allowed to show new recruits around. Be careful guys, she'll probably blow you both up.", a large man next to her chuckled and gave the girl a high five.

Nadine lowered her head and looked extremely hurt by the rude remark, Vyse became enraged, dropped his backpack and began to walk towards the two other soldiers.

"Hey!, who are you to say that to her, she was just being helpful." shouted Vyse.

The two soldiers stopped in their track, the red haired girl turned around "Excuse me!" she shouted, "I don't know if your blind or something, wearing that eye patch. But how can you even stand being around a Darcsen like her. Her kind has a bad reputation and everyone knows it."

Aika rushed up to Vyse and attempted to hold him back, "Vyse, please, we just got here. I don't want to get into trouble the first few hours that we are in this new land." said Aika.

"Hehe, you hear that Rosie, these two aren't even Gallians...no wonder they socialize with Darcsens." said the large man.

"You said it Largo...foreign riffraff." said Rosie, cracking her knuckles, getting ready for a scrap.

"No, please don't." said Nadine, rushing in between the two groups, "Corporal Stark, Sgt. Largo, I apologize. Please don't hurt these people, it's true they are not from here. And perhaps it was wrong for a Darcsen to be their first contact. So I'll be going now." said Nadine, she then turned around and began to jog away.

"Let me tell you something." said Rosie, "All Darcsens are bad news, they have a very bad reputation and they just plain stink!. They're not the kind of people that you want to make friends with or even be caught talking to.". Rosie then shuttered in disgust, "All this Darcsen talk makes me feel so dirty, think I need to take a shower."

"Rosie, don't be so cold hearted." said Largo, "You guys need some help enlisting?"

Vyse had calmed down again, but shook his head. "No thank you, we'll find our own way around." said Vyse.

"Suit yourself." said Largo, he and Rosie then continued on towards the central building.

Vyse exhaled angrily, then felt a tug on his sleeve and looked at Aika, she was pointing to something, so Vyse turned his head and saw Nadine walking around by one of the storage sheds. And without any words necessary, Vyse and Aika made their way over to her.

"Nadine!" called out Vyse.

Nadine looked partially over her shoulder, but quickly looked forward again, she then took off her large backpack and began filling it with belts of ammunition.

"I'm sorry, but I can't help you right now." said Nadine, her voice cracking and sounding very sad.

Aika peered over, and saw some tears streaming down Nadine's cheek, and her heart went out to her, "Are you crying?" she asked.

Nadine could no longer hold her composure and she began to sob loudly, covering her face with her hands.

"Hey hey...what's wrong?." asked Vyse, kneeling down and placing one hand on her shoulder. "Is it because she called you names, I take it Darcsen must mean some kind of mean name to call someone."

Nadine chuckled between sobs, "You really don't know what a Darcsen is?." asked Nadine. Vyse and Aika both shook their heads.

"Darcsens are a race of people in Europa, another name people call us are Dark-hairs." said Nadine, wiping away some tears. "But...what you saw back there happens all too often, we get discriminated against all the time. Our history is..."

Vyse raised a finger to his lips, "Shh...I don't need to know." said Vyse, Nadine looked up at Vyse. "I still don't fully know what a Darcsen is, or anything about Gallian history and such. But I do know this...", Vyse reached out and placed his hands on Nadine's shoulders, and looked into her teary, red eyes. "You are a good and friendly person....Whatever discrimination you have suffered before, you won't get from myself or Aika. and I would be most honored if I could call you, my first Gallian friend."

"Me too, count me in on that." said Aika, placing her hand ontop of Vyses hand that was already on Nadines shoulder.

Nadine began to cry even harder, her sobs could be heard from nearby soldiers training and marching around. "I'm so sorry, I'm not crying because I am sad...I'm crying because I am so very happy. No none Darcsen has ever been this nice to me in my entire life." cried Nadine, Vyse pulled her close and let her cry on his shoulder. Aika smiled and joined in on the warm group hug.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3- Joining the militia**

Vyse, Aika and Nadine were walking around the military base together, Nadine pointing out the various buildings and other important areas of the base. As they were walking past the training block, a familiar face recognized the two individuals walking with the Gallian Engineer.

"_What in the world are those two doing here_?." thought Rodriguez, he then instructed another Gallian officer to take over training the new recruits while he walked over to Aika, Vyse and Nadine.

"Hey!, you two!!" shouted Rodriguez, Aika and Vyse turned to see Rodriguez and they both smiled and waved to him.

"Hello again, Instructor Rodriguez sir!." shouted Aika, dropping her suitcase and standing up straight and saluting him, Vyse and Nadine did the same. Rodriguez saluted them back as he finally reached the group.

"What in the world are you two doing here on base?" asked Rodriguez.

"Aika and I would very much like to join the Gallian Militia and help you fight the empire." said Vyse.

Rodriguezs' one good eye shot wide open, "You wish to help fight our countries war...why?." asked Rodriguez.

Vyse smiled, "Aika and I are adventurers, we travel the globe seeking new adventures, new experiences and to meet new cultures." said Vyse, Aika nodded in agreement.

"I see, but this isn't a game here. This is a war you know, in wars people die. Take that into consideration if your thinking about joining us. This could very well be the last adventure that you both take part in." warned Rodriguez.

"We understand sir!." said Vyse, Aika was alittle scared inside, but she nodded her head in agreement.

"Very well, do you know how to enlist into the militia?." asked Rodriguez.

"Yes sir, Nadine here was kind enough to show us around and tell us the procedure." said Vyse, Nadine brought her arm up and saluted Instructor Rodriguez.

"Sir yes sir!!" said Nadine, "However, these two new recruits wished to speak with you first."

"With me?." said Rodriguez, intrigued "What for?."

"We figured that since you were an instructor here, that maybe you would have some sway with the head office."

Rodriguez nodded his head, "Go on." he said.

"Well we were really hoping that you might be able to pull some strings or something and get both Aika and myself into Squad 7 with Lieutenant Gunther's squad." said Vyse.

"Lieutenant Gunther...the hero at Bruhl." said Rodriguez, rubbing his chin with his hand. "Well I don't know how much help I can be with that. But you know what...I like you two. The two of you aren't even from Gallia or Europa, but you want to help us fight."

Aika and Vyse both held their breath and waited anxiously for his answer, "Very well, but the most that I can do is write a letter of recommendation to Captain Varrot. She's the commander for this entire regiment." said Rodriguez.

"I think I could help pull some strings as well." said Nadine, Aika and Vyse both looked at her in surprise.

"You'd do that for us." asked Aika, Nadine smiled and gave a thumbs up.

"Absolutely, I owe you one for sticking up for me." said Nadine.

Rodriguez sighed, "Someone giving you trouble again?." asked Rodriguez, Nadine nodded but didn't say anything as she looked down at the ground.

"Now listen up good." said Rodriguez, "When your out there on the battle field, it won't matter what race, religion or person is fighting next to you. They are your squad mate, Nadine here may be Darcsen, but you watch her back and she'll watch yours. This much I know about her, she'll loyally defend anyone she considers to be a friend."

"Thank you sir!" said Nadine, Aika and Vyse both smiled.

Rodriguez then cleared his throat and became serious, "Now then, why aren't you two enlisted yet. Get your tails over to the recruitment hall and sign up NOW!!". ordered Rodriguez, Aika and Vyse both stood up straight and saluted him.

"Sir yes sir!!." said Aika and Vyse in unison.

"Nadine, you come with me and we'll see if we can pull some strings for these two yahoos." ordered Rodriguez, but before going she pointed out the recruitment hall to Aika and Vyse before jogging off to catch up with instructor Rodriguez who was on his way back to his office.

A short while later Aika and Vyse pushed their way through the front doors of the recruitment hall and looked around. There were many tables set up in the large open hall with dozens of new recruits sitting in groups talking together. Some were already dressed in the Gallia Militia uniforms.

Aika and Vyse then made their way to a large table that was set up at the back of the hall with an older looking male officer who was tapping his pen against his paper.

"You two here to sign up or what?." asked the officer.

Aika and Vyse picked up with suitcases and made their way over to the table, "Yes sir!." said Vyse, Aika saying the same.

"Very well, write your names on this chart. Head over to the waiting tables and we will call you to evaluate and assign to a group based on your abilites." said the officer, Aika and Vyse both signed their names and were given pamphlets by the officer. They then found an empty table to sit at and began flipping through the pamphlet.

"Wow...check out all of the different groups they have." said Aika, showing one of the pages to Vyse.

"Hmmm...Scout, Shock trooper, Lancer, Engineer, Sniper...wow." said Vyse, "So do we get to choose where we go or what?." asked Vyse, Aika shook her head.

"I'm not sure Vyse." said Aika

"Well if we do I think I'm going to be a sniper!!." said Vyse, "I've got the perfect vision for it."

Aika chuckled, "Well I was thinking that I might like to be an Engineer like our new friend Nadine." said Aika.

"Yeah, you sure you could handle all that stuff they need to carry?." asked Vyse, laughing loudly.

An female officer then exited one of many small tents set up one the west side of the recruitment hall.

"Aika Thompson!." she called out, "Is there an Aika Thompson present here?."

Aika set down her pamphlet, stood up straight and shouted "Yes Ma'am!"

"I'm ready to evaluate you." she said, going back into the tent.

Aika gave Vyse a double thumbs up, "Wish me luck Vyse baby." she said cheerfully, but she was still nervous inside. What if she got stuck being a lancer or something else that she didn't want to be.

Aika then entered the tent, the female officer looked up at Aika, then pointed to a seat in front of her small desk. "Have a seat please." she instructed. Aika obeyed and sat down, nervously tapping her index fingers together.

"What are your hobbies?." asked the officer, not even looking up at Aika as she had her pen ready to write down Aika's answers.

"Um...running, taking nature walks, and definately exploring." said Aika, the officer was busy writing down her answers.

"Any special skills??." asked the officer.

"Hmm, guess I have really good coping skills and can turn any situation into a resolution for myself." said Aika.

"Alright, I think I have enough info for now." said the officer, she then reached down into a box beside her and pulled out a round sticker. "From this day on, you are a scout of the Gallia Militia."

"Scout?." said Aika, reaching forward and taking hold of the sticker. On the sticker was what looked like a number 3 facing downwards.

"Yes, as a scout, your role is to go out head of the shock troopers, lancers and even the tanks and collect enemy Intel. You then radio their location, the size of the enemy force and anything else helpful you may notice to your squad leader so he may move his own troops accordingly." said the officer.

Aika's heart began to beat faster, cold beads of sweat forming on the back of her neck. "B-but...that sounds quite dangerous." complained Aika.

The officers face remained emotionless, "Based on the information that you have told me, there is no better squad to put you in. You fit the role of scout better then most candidates I've been through so far." she said, "Now, put that sticker on your chest and head out this exit.", pointing to an exit that was set up behind her.

Aika began to feel like she had made a mistake joining the militia if it ment that she had to be a scout. But she obeyed the officers orders, slipped past her desk and step out of the tent. In front of her was a door leading back outside, with a male officer standing next to it.

"Come on, this way." he ordered, holding open the door for Aika. Aika took a deep breath and nodded, and exited the building through the door.

Once she was outside, she noticed many other new recruits standing around, talking to one another. Aika then noticed another female officer making her way towards her, clipboard in hand.

"Name and group, soldier!." she said, bringing her pen up to her clipboard and awaiting Aika's answer.

Aika was very nervous, "A-aika Thompson....s-s-scout, Ma'am." she said, the officer jotted down this information.

"Alright, head towards that building and get suited up." she ordered, then march off to other new recruits.

Aika looked towards the building she pointed to and saw a large building with the same downwards looking 3 on it. Aika looked down at the sticker on her chest and guessed that that must be where all of the scouts report to. And sure enough she was right, once she got inside there were three officers standing in the middle of the concrete floor, with many lockers lining the walls.

"This way soldier." said an officer on the left side of the building, Aika walked over to him and he reached into one of the lockers and pulled out a folded up blue, red and white Militia uniform and dumped them into Aikas' hands, he then piled 4 large armored plates ontop of her uniform.

"Come here next." said the officer standing in the middle of the building. Aika adjusted the clothes in her arms, trying to get a better hold of them. When she reached the officer in the middle of the building, he reached into a large metal container and pulled out a large set of binoculars in a brown case and handed them to Aika. She took hold of it and struggled to make her way to the last officer on the right side of the building.

Once she got to him, he reached into a large rectangular storage locker and pulled out a rifle and tried to hand it to her. But Aika had too much stuff in her hands and dropped everything on the floor. The officers chuckled loudly.

"Listen, you go over to the changing rooms and put on your uniform and I'll hang onto your rifle until you get back." said the third officer.

Aika sighed and nodded, picking her uniform and binoculars up once more, then headed to the back of the scout building and quickly changed into her Militia uniform. But once she had it one she couldn't help but admire herself in the mirror at how pretty the blue, red and white uniform looked on her. She also noticed the large white downward facing 3 on the high of her back near her shoulders.

"Great, now the whole world is going to know that I'm a scout." complained Aika. But she quickly attached the binoculars onto her belt and went back into the scout building. Once she was back inside the scout arsenal building the third officer approached her and handed her her rifle, along with 4 spare cartridges of ammo.

"Now take very good care of both your rifle and binoculars. It would be very dangerous for everyone if you lost either one." instructed the officer. Aika nodded her head and exited the scout Arsenal building and headed back into the large courtyard outside of the recruitment hall. She then sat down on the ground and sighed loudly.

"_I wonder how Vyse is making out_?." thought Aika.

Meanwhile back inside Vyse was inside one of the many tents set up on the west side of the building.

"What are your hobbies?." asked a female officer.

"Treasure hunting, seeking adventures where ever possible, and working out I guess." answered Vyse, the officer jotted this information down.

"Any special skills or anything?." she asked.

"I never let bleak circumstances get me down, I love a challenge. And I have a strong iron will." said Vyse.

The officer jotted this information down, then reached down beside her into a large box and rummaged around for awhile. Before pulling out a large round sticker and sliding it over to Vyse. "From this day on you are a Shock trooper of the Gallia Militia." she said.

Vyse picked up the sticker and looked at it, it looked like an upside down V with two other lines underneath it. "Shock trooper...not really what I was hoping for but sounds exciting!!." said Vyse.

The female officer set her pen down and cupped her hands together, "Now as a Shock trooper you are the main offense for the Gallia Militia. It's your job to attack the enemy head on, and provide protection for the Lancers." she said, Vyse just grinned and nodded his head eagerly.

"Alright, now put that sticker on your chest and head out this exit into the courtyard." she said, Vyse nodded, quickly stood up and headed out the back of the tent.

Once outside he quickly spotted Aika's very unique hairstyle and made his way over to her.

"Aika! Babe, how'd you do?." asked Vyse, Aika frowned, stood up, turned around and pointed to the downward facing 3 on her back.

"I'm a scout...one of the most dangerous jobs in the militia." she said.

"Wow...well I made shock trooper, which means I get to attack those imperial imps head on." said Vyse, laughing loudly.

"Haha suddenly my job doesn't seem that dangerous anymore." joked Aika, Vyse nodded and joined in with her laughter.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4- Accepted or Denied**??

Vyse and Aika were now dressed in their full Gallia Militia uniform and armed with their squads guns, with Aika having a rifle and Vyse having a small machine gun. Both Aika and Vyse were now waiting in the main barracks to see which squad they would join, along with over 100 new recruits. Aika and Vyse had hopes that both Instructor Rodriguez and Nadine would able to put in the good word for them so they could join squad 7 and be with Lieutenant Gunther, for his squad sounded like it would be the most exciting to Vyse.

Aika looked at Vyse and smiled. "I must say Vyse, those colors look good on you. And looks like even now, you still decide to wear that eye patch of yours." said Aika, Vyse smiled back.

Just then a female officer entered the main barracks and looked down at a list in her hands. "Vyse Inglebard and Aika Thompson!." she called out, Vyse and Aika quickly stood up and saluted the officer.

"Here Ma'am" they both shouted.

"The commander would like to see the both of you in her office ASAP." she said, before departing.

"Well Aika, let's go." said Vyse, holding his hand out to her. Aika nodded and took hold of his hand and the two of them began to make their way from the main barracks to the commanders office in the central command building of the base. After afew minutes they managed to find the commanders office and knocked on the door.

"Come in." said a female voice and Vyse turned the knob and headed inside, Aika following close behind. Vyse and Aika both walked up to the commanders desk and came to attention.

"Ma'am, Gallia Militia enlistee Vyse Inglebard reporting as ordered." said Vyse.

"Ma'am, Gallia Militia enlistee Aika Thompson, also reporting as ordered." said Aika.

"Greetings, I am Captain Varrot, commander of this regiment." said Capt. Varrot, "Word has reached my ear that you two are infact non-gallians, your not even Europans."

Vyse remained at attention, "Ma'am, that is correct Ma'am." said Vyse

"Then tell me what are you doing here fighting our war against the empire, which you know nothing about." asked Varrot.

"Well ma'am, we have been here only a short time, but from what we learned is that the empire is attacking your small country for a resource known as ragnite." said Vyse, "And if I may say so, I cannot stand idoly by and watch a bigger bully attacking someone much smaller then themselves."

Capt. Varrot cupped her hands together and rested her chin ontop of her hands and nodded.

"Also, we've made some new friends here already. And we wish to help fight along side them." said Aika.

"Yes, I can see that." said Varrot, picking up a stack of papers. "Seems here you come highly recommended from Drill instructor Rodriguez, squad 7's engineer Nadine, R&D's Leon and Kreis and even Lieutenant Gunthers younger sister Isara. All of them requested you be transferred to Squad 7."

Vyse couldn't help but smile, "Ma'am, yes Ma'am." said Vyse, "This Lieutenant Gunther seems like a fine leader to serve under. And it would be an honor if I could fight alongside a hero such as himself."

Varrot nodded, "Indeed he seems like a fine young leader so far, his father was a very successful and well respected general in the Gallian Militia during the last Europan war." said Varrot. "However, it seems that you have already butted heads with two higher ranking officers of squad 7."

Aika was confused, "Ma'am?" she said.

"It seems Corporal Brigitte Stark and Sergeant Largo Potter both do not approve of your request to join squad 7." said Varrot.

Vyse sighed out loud, "_How was I to know they were in squad 7_." thought Vyse.

"Ultimately...it will be up to Lieutenant Gunther to decide whether or not you make it into squad 7. It's his squad, and his decision" said Varrot, she then smiled alittle for the first time. "But given your unique circumstance of volunteering to fight on our side, though you are not of Gallia or Europa that might help you. That is all, your dismissed, you'll know by the end of the day which squad you will be assigned to."

Vyse and Aika saluted Capt. Varrot, then exited her office. Once outside Aika gave Vyse a soft shove.

"See Vyse, I knew it was a bad idea to almost get into a scrap as soon as we arrived on base." said Aika.

"I know, thank goodness you were there to keep me in line...as usual." said Vyse, "Now come on, let's head over to the R&D department, I want to meet this Leon and Kreis who wrote letters of recommendation for us.", Aika nodded and followed Vyse towards the large tank hangers where the R&D department was located.

Once they arrived they quicky spotted Nadine working on one of Gallias tanks.

"Yo, Nadine!" shouted Vyse, Nadine looked back, spotted Vyse and Aika and a large smile spread across her face as she got up and made her way over to them.

"Hey guys, wow, those Militia uniforms look good on you." complimented Nadine. She quickly looked at their uniforms and knew right away which soldier class they were in.

Nadine pointed to Vyse, "Shock trooper right?." she said, Vyse nodded. She then pointed to Aika "Scout right?.", Aika nodded as well.

Aika looked over Nadine's shoulder and remembered the sign for Engineer class, the funny looking backwards C. "And your Engineer class right." said Aika

"Yes that's right." said Nadine, smiling.

"Let me ask, did you choose to be an engineer?." asked Aika.

Nadine nodded, "Of course, An engineer has the most responsibility. It's up to us to disarm mines, repair sandbag defenses, resupply all troops during battle and repair tanks on-site." said Nadine proudly.

"Wow, that is alot of responsibility." said Vyse, "But I know that you can do it."

"hehe, thanks Vyse, that means alot to me." said Nadine.

"Yo, Nadine, what cha up to?." asked a male voice, and a man dressed in mechanics coveralls and goggles ontop of his head came strolling over.

"Oh, hello Leon." said Nadine, "I was just talking to some new recruits. Vyse Inglebard and Aika Thompson."

"No way!" said Leon, "Bro, I heard all about you. Yeah, that you two are some kind of adventurers from a far off land right!", Vyse chuckled and nodded.

"Hey Leon, what's all the commotion about. I can hear you clear across the hanger." said a male voice, and a younger man with wavy black hair and large framed glasses appeared.

"Yo Kreis, it's them. The two that Isara and Nadine were talking about." said Leon, and Kreis's eyes shot wide open.

"Oh, a pleasure to meet the two of you." said Kreis, shaking both Aika and Vyses hands. "I think that's awesome that you volunteered to fight in the militia, being non-gallian and all."

"Yes, Aika and I both love a good adventure. And it seemed like this would be the perfect chance to begin new adventure here in Gallia." said Vyse, "We do hope that we get to join squad 7 with Lieutenant Gunther."

"Yeah bro, I met him earlier." said Leon, "It was such an honor to meet the hero of Bruhl."

"I agree, his actions at Bruhl saved dozens of lives and destroyed over a dozen imperial soldiers and as well as an imperial tank." said Kreis.

"Which reminds me, have you seen the beast of a tank that Lieutenant Gunther drives." said Leon, "It's so much bigger then the tanks the Gallian army uses."

"Yes, it belonged to General Gunther from the last Europan war. It's designs are totally unique among all of Gallias other tanks in service right now." said Nadine, "Lieutenant Gunther's younger sister Isara told me that."

Just then the group course hear the loud rumbling of a tank approaching the hanger bay, as Lieutenant Gunthers tank entered the tank hanger and came to a halt at one of the service stations.

"Great, Isara is back!!" said Nadine, "Would you like to meet her?."

Vyse and Aika nodded, they wanted to say thank you to her for recommending them for squad 7.

"Leon, Kreis!" shouted a man's voice, "Why aren't you servicing these tanks?"

"Sorry sir, we'll get right back to work." said Leon, he then turned to Aika and Vyse once more. "Sorry bro, looks like we got to go. But come back again soon, I mean it!.", both Leon and Kreis ran back to the tanks they were working on before.

Meanwhile, Nadine had climbed onto Lieutenant Gunther's tank and opened the top hatch. "Hey Isara, you got a moment?" asked Nadine into the hatch, "I'd like to introduce you to some people."

"Yeah sure." replied a soft female voice.

Vyse and Aika both anxiously waited, Vyse leaned over and whispered into Aikas' ear. "I wonder what she looks like...hope she's pretty." said Vyse, Aika gave him a playful shove.

Nadine then hopped off the tank and stood beside Vyse and Aika while they waited for Isara to finish powering down her tank. Just then a small, dark blue, almost black haired girl popped her head out of the tank hatch, and smiled. She then climbed out and Vyse and Aika could see she was in full Militia uniform, but was wearing a shawl with strange red patterns sown onto it.

"That's Lieutenant Gunthers younger sister?." asked Vyse, Nadine nodded.

"Yep, she's a Darcsen, just like me." said Nadine.

Isara then hopped off the tank and approached the group, stopping infront of them and saluting everyone. "Nice to meet you, I am Corporal Isara Gunther." said Isara. Vyse and Aika quickly stood up straight and saluted her back.

"Enlistee Vyse Inglebard." said Vyse.

"Enlistee Aika Thompson." said Aika.

Everyone then stood at ease, Aika and Vyse were still staring at Isara, and she could see the confusion on their faces. "Hehe, well aren't you going to ask?." said Isara, "Don't worry, I'm used to it by now."

"I know that we're not from Europa, but I thought that your brother wasn't a darcsen. We saw him earlier." said Vyse.

"No, we are not brother and sister by blood. But Welkin definitely is my big brother." said Isara, smiling. "Welkin's father and mine both fought in the last Europan war together. His father was a famous war General and my father, created this beautiful machine you see before you.", pointing to the large tank behind her.

Isara then looked down, "During the last war my father was killed and General Gunther was kind enough to take me into his family. I've been there ever since. I love Welkin just as much as any blood related sister would." said Isara.

"I see, and I want to say thank you for recommending us for squad 7." said Vyse, Aika nodded.

"As soon as I had heard how you stuck up for my Darcsen friend Nadine, I didn't hesitate." said Isara, smiling at Nadine. "It's not often that we meet people who like us for who we are. All too often we're immediately discriminated against just because of our race.", Nadine nodded sadly in agreement.

"Well you won't get any of that from Aika or myself, Nadine was one of the first Gallians we met as soon as we arrived." said Vyse.

Isara chuckled happily, "Well it was very nice to meet you both. I must begin repairs on the Edelweiss." said Isara, "My brother is currently choosing members for squad 7 right now. Somehow, I just know that he will choose the two of you to join."

"Right, I have to get back to work as well now." said Nadine, "Lots of tanks to service here."

"Right, and we'll head back to the main barracks and continue waiting for our squad assignment." said Vyse, Aika nodded and they both waved goodbye to Isara and Nadine and made their way back to the barracks.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the base, Welkin Gunther was sorting through 100 sheets of new recruit information. "_Wow this is tough, choosing only 20 new recruits to join my squad. Already have Largo, Rosie, Alicia and Nadine...wonder who else I should choose_." thought Welkin to himself. As he flipped through some papers he saw some no brainer choices.

"_Juno Coren...my old University friend. I could definitely use some friendly, familiar faces in my squad. She knows exactly how I like to think...that and she's not freaked out by my fascination with bugs and nature_." thought Welkin, and he stamped his blue stamp of approval onto her paper and set it aside. After some more flipping through pages he saw yet another obvious choice.

"_Cherry Stijnen...while alittle chit chatty, she's a solid shot, did extremely well during her scout training and will do anything to impress Rosie. She'll sure do_.", and he once again stamped his blue stamp of approval on her paper and set it aside.

And after afew more choices, the room for new candidates was getting smaller, he had already chosen enough lancers, engineers and snipers for his squad. But he still needed some more strong shock troopers to put on offense. And as he continued flipping through papers, he came up one that was much thicker then the others. He took it out of the pile and looked down at it.

"Hmm...Vyse Inglebard." said Welkin, reading the name out loud. He looked through his information, then came up to the letter of recommendation from Drill Instructor Rodriguez, reading through it he smiled to himself. But the next page had a large red X stamped on it with Rosie's signature next to it.

"I strongly recommend that you do not allow Vyse Inglebard into squad 7. He seems to be a hot headed new recruit who seeks only fame and glory for himself. And that would put the rest of the squad in considerable danger if we cannot trust one of our soldiers during battle." read Rosies letter declining Vyses application into squad 7.

"_Hmmm...that's a valid point Rosie makes_." thought Welkin, he then turned the page and came up to Leon and Kreis's letter of recommendation.

"Welkin bro!, I am writing this letter of recommendation for Vyse Inglebard. I hope you can fit him into your squad somewhere. For he seems to be a good man, did you know that he isn't even a Gallian or a Europan, but he volunteered to fight in the Militia against the empire. His companion Aika seems like a great girl to, If I were you I wouldn't hesitate to put them on my squad. Later bro, drop by the R&D department sometime." read Leons' letter of recommendation, Kreis's signature was on the letter as well.

"_Non-gallian, but still fighting with us. That seems like an admirable quality_." thought Welkin, but as he turned to the next page there was yet another paper with a large red X stamped on it, with Largos signature beside it.

"Welkin, As I have said before experience is everything on the battlefield. And I have fought and lived through the first Europan war. One thing I have never forgotten is the sheer number of glory seeking, fame driven recruits during the last war. All they thought about were medals, all they wanted was glory and in a countless number of cases...they have died because of it.

Because of this, I have a very good ability to spot new recruits like this and I think that this Vyse Inglebard is one of them. I heard he came here seeking adventure, and we don't need any kids like that in the militia. War is not a game and he's just going to get himself and more then likely some of his squad mates killed. For this reason, I strongly recommend that he not be admitted into Squad 7."

Welkin sighed out loud, "_Tough choice...what to do_." thought Welkin. He then came up to the last page, another letter of recommendation, but the name at the top of the letter surprised him, it read "Isara Gunther."

"Welkin, my dear brother. I am writing this letter of recommendation for both Aika Thompson and Vyse Inglebard. I believe these two would be ideal choices for squad 7, I have heard recently of how kind they were to one of my Darcsen friends, they immediately came to her defense when others were mocking her Darcsen heritage. Also they never once judged her based on her race and wanted nothing more then to be her friend.

Hearing this filled me with so much joy, for it reminded me of someone else who has never once looked at me as a Darcsen, but as his little sister. So please Welkin, I ask that you allow these two new recruits to join squad 7. It would make me and every Darcsen in squad 7 very happy." read Isaras letter of recommendation.

Welkin sighed once again, on one side he had alot of good, valid reasons not to let Vyse and Aika join. What if that was the only reason they joined, seeking adventure, glory and fame. But on the other side he read about their kind heartedness, and the selfless act of joining to fight against the powerful invading empire.

Welkin then set both Aika and Vyses information down infront of him, cupped his hands together and rested his chin on top of his hands. A short while later his eyes drifted over to both the blue acceptance stamp and the red denied stamp. He nodded and his mind was then made up and he reached out slowly to pick up one of the stamps...


	5. Chapter 5

_Hello readers, sorry for the short 1 new chapter, but I've been busy working 2 jobs saving for University. That and...I still cannot believe it, I am watching and rewatch the 1st episode of Valkyria Chronicles the anime. It's so awesome that I can't stop watching it. I'll try and update alittle more often, but busy busy these days. I'll have more off days from work in the next few days...and I'm eager to start writing again :)._

**Chapter 5- A new offer**

Vyse and Aika were waiting together inside the main barracks of the Militias army base. Aika and Vyse were both doing their nervous habits as they waited for what seemed like hours to hear their squad assignment. Aika was tapping her left foot against the ground at a rapid pace, while Vyse was tapping out a rhythmic tune with his fingers against the table. Vyse then looked around and saw alot of annoyed recruits glaring in their direction and he placed a hand on Aika's shoulder and she immediately stopped tapping once she saw the dozens of annoyed eyes staring at them.

But one kind hearted big recruit approached them, "Hey Honey, you feeling nervous?." asked a large spiky brown haired man carrying a giant anti-tank lance. The way he spoke was enough to make Vyse chuckle just alittle, before Aika jabbed her elbow against his arm.

"Yes, alittle." said Aika, "I'm really hoping to get into squad 7. So is my best friend here." she said, pointing to Vyse behind her.

"Sweetie that's awesome." said the large recruit, "I myself am hoping to get into squad 7. To fight along side Largo would be a dream come true.", his cheeks then turned Rosy red and he grinned ear to ear.

"I could so get lost in those muscles." he said in dreamy tone. Vyse placed his hand against his mouth, but let out a muffled giggle. Aika looked back over her shoulder and glared at Vyse.

Aika looked forward again and extended her hand out, "I'm Aika, Aika Thompson. Nice to meet you." she said cheerfully.

The large recruit took Aika's tiny hand in both of his hands and shook her hand briskly, "Nice to meet you sweetie. I'm Jann, Jann Walker." said Jann.

Aika could clearly see why Jann was a lancer, he definitely had the large, muscular build necessary to carry the giant anti-tank lance. But as she looked around she saw girls her own size or smaller who were also Lancer class. Curious she slid over beside Jann.

"Hey, Mind if I hold your lance for a second." she asked, a nervous smile spread across Janns face.

"Hehe...ok...just be careful Honey." said Jann, he and Aika then stood up together and Jann passed the anti-tank lance over to Aika, who took hold of it with both of her hands but struggled to hold onto it.

"Whoa...heavy." grunted Aika, the lance shaking in her hands as she tried to hold it up straight. Suddenly the weight of the lance started to tip off to the right and Aika was unable to keep it steady anymore as she and the lance began to move to the right.

"HEY!, Be careful with that!." screamed a female voice, as a large, musclar female recruit rushed past Vyse and grabbed ahold of the lance and helped Aika steady it once more.

"Girl, a small thing like you ain't cut out to be a lancer you know!." she scolded, Aika lowered her head in a I'm sorry motion.

The large girl sighed, "Look, I'm sorry, it's just that if you dropped this it could of gone off." she said, "And have you seen the damage these things can do...they don't call them anti-tank lances for nothing."

"Yeah....Sorry again." said Aika.

"Rosina Selden, Lancer class." said Rosina, offering her hand out to Aika. Aika smiled and shook her hand.

"Aika Thompson." said Aika, Rosina then looked at Aika's uniform.

"Scout huh." said Rosina, "Well anytime you see an Imperial tank, you just call and I'll come a running."

"Hehe, thanks." said Aika, smiling gratefully back at Rosina

just then a female officer walked in and everyone immediately stopped talking, all eyes fixed on her as she walked over to the squad assignment board. All along the board were squads numbering from 1-9. The officer then took numerous sheets of papers she was carrying and struck them underneath the various numbers.

Everyone waited on pins and needles until the officer disappeared once again out the barracks doors. The second she was gone, everyone slid their chairs away from the tables they were sitting at and ran up to the board, pushing and shoving.

"Woo Hoo!!" screamed one blond haired girl with glasses, "I made Squad 7. Welkin Gunther I knew that you wouldn't forget me!!."

"Calm down Juno." said a blond haired male recruit, with an orange and red streak in his hair. "Don't wanna overdo yourself before you even get over to your squads barracks."

"Hehe, Sorry Alex." said Juno, "It's just that Lieutenant Gunther and I go way back, I was hoping that he'd remember those days we spent at University together. Looks like he does.", Juno's cheeks turned bright red and she grinned sheepishly. Juno then grabbed her duffel bag and rifle and quickly headed out of the main barracks to Squad 7's smaller barracks nearby.

Jann quickly pushed much smaller recruits out of the way and ran his finger down the list of names for squad 7. "Oh my goodness..." said Jann, "I...I made it.", he then let out a delightful squeal, grabbed his duffel bag and lance and exited the building.

A short while later the crowd began to get smaller, as more and more recruits left the building to move to their assigned squad barracks. There were just as many disappointed sighs as there were cheers from recruits happy and upset with their new squad assignments.

Aika and Vyse waited until nearly everyone was gone, then they both got up and made their way over to the board. Aika turned to Vyse, "Ok...same time?." she asked, Vyse smiled and nodded and they both placed their index fingers close together and ran them down the list of names at the same time.

"What the..." said Vyse, reaching the end of the list but not seeing his name. Aika was clearly disappointed as well but shook her head.

"Look again, maybe we missed it." she said and they started over again, going much slower this time. But with the same results, their names were not on squad 7's list.

Aika and Vyse stood side by side, remaining completely silent, both were too upset and stunned to say anything.

"He didn't accept us." said Vyse, Aika nodded sadly in agreement.

"Oh, hey you two!." called out a familiar voice. They both turned and saw Nadine standing in the doorway of the main barracks.

"Hey Nadine." said Aika softly, clearly upset.

"Why are you both still here?." asked Nadine, "Didn't you get the message?."

"What message." asked Vyse, Aika's heart skipped beat as a bit of hope crept back into her heart.

"Lieutenant Gunther is waiting for you both at Squad 7's barracks." said Nadine.

"What?!?." said Aika, and Nadine made her way over to the squad assignment board, and beside #9 was a handwritten note and she plucked it off the board.

"Welkin Gunther, Leader of Squad 7 request Aika Thompson and Vyse Inglebard to report to squad 7 barracks immediately." read Nadine, Aika and Vyse both looked at eachother with excitement.

"He wanted to see you both personally." said Nadine, smiling her usual big smile. "You better get over there right away, I think it's something wonderful."

Aika and Vyse both grabbed their blue duffel bags and guns, and ran alongside Nadine towards squad 7's barracks. All three of them burst through the front doors together and saw Lieutenant Gunther standing in front of all 20 of his new recruits. And they all waited until Lieutenant Gunther was done delivering his welcome speech to his new unit. The entire squad cheered happily and everyone approached Welkin to shake his hand or pat him on the back.

Welkin's eyes then looked towards the back of the barracks and saw Vyse and Aika standing just in front of the entrance, duffel bags over their shoulder, guns in hand. Welkin then left the new recruits and walked over to Vyse and Aika, who immediately dropped their duffel bags, stood up straight and saluted their new squad leader.

"Vyse Inglebart reporting for duty." said Vyse, Welkin gave a nod to Vyse.

"Aika Thompson reporting for duty sir." said Aika, Welkin smiled once again and nodded at Aika.

"Welkin Gunther, Leader of squad 7." said Welkin, saluting Vyse and Aika, meanwhile Nadine left Vyse and Aikas side and stood next to Isara, who had her hands cupped together nervously as she watched her brother from afar.

"I read both of your reports and letters of recommendation and it seems that you have won the hearts of many of Gallia's militia." said Welkin, "However, since you are both non-Gillian's, then I assume that neither of you has gone through the mandatory military training that our school system supplies all the way from middle school straight through until University. Is that correct?."

"Sir, that is correct sir!." said Vyse and Aika in unison.

"Were it not for this detail I would of gladly picked the both of you for Squad 7." said Welkin, he then pointed to his 20 new recruits behind him, "Everyone and I mean everyone here knows how to fight and how to properly use any of Gallias weapons in battle. They have spent more then half their lives studying and training to fight in case a war ever broke out."

Vyse and Aika nodded in agreement, the likely hood that they would be chosen seemed to be shrinking the more Welkin spoke to them.

"So, starting tomorrow morning, I will personally be evaluating the both of you during training." said Welkin, "If you can do as well as any of my new squad members or better, I will let you join squad 7. I just need to be sure that you both know how to fight when the time comes."

"Sir, yes sir!!." said Aika and Vyse in Unison.

"Now pick out a bunk and get settled in." said Welkin, "And I hope you like training. Because me and every other Gallian...we love it."

"Sir." said Vyse, saluting Welkin, he then grabbed his duffle bag and found a empty bunk on the right side of the barracks where all the men were stationed.

"Sir." said Aika, saluting Welkin and grabbing her duffel and moving over to the left side of the barracks where all the females were stationed. She then found a empty bunk bed and set her stuff down onto of her bed.

"Lights out in 10 minutes!!." shouted Welkin, and immediately everyone male and female headed for the washrooms at the back of the barracks and changed into sleep wear, brushed their teeth and headed back to their bunks.

Everyone then stood at attention in front of their bunks, males were wearing blue boxers shorts and white tank tops, females were wearing blue shorts and white T-shirts. Aika was blushing bright red as she had never slept in the same room as so many males wearing so little.

"Alright, lights out!!." shouted Welkin, everyone ran to their bunks and laid down, just as all the lights in the building went out.

Aika rolled over in her creaky bed and pulled the covers up to her face, "_I hope I do well tomorrow, I don't want to be separated from Vyse_.", Aika exhaled nervously, then closed her eyes and drifted soundly off to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6- Training Day**

Drill Instructor Rodriguez stood up in the back of the blue and white jeep that was getting ready to drive down the road that had numerous squad barracks on either side of it. He picked up a mega phone and raised it up to his mouth, at the same time looking over at another drill instructor and giving him a nod. The other instructor nodded and slammed his palm against a large, round red button attached to a siren tower.

Drill Instructor Rodriguez smiled to himself and thought, "_I love this part_."

Immediately a shrill siren began to blare out loudly over and over again, at the same time the jeep Drill Instructor was riding in began to slowly drive down the center of the squad barracks road.

Drill Instructor raised the Mega phone to his mouth and began to shout, "WAKE UP MAGGOTS!!, It's time to get started on your training!!. Come on, Get up!, Get up!!. I want everyone out on the training fields in no more then 10 minutes time!!."

Inside Squad 7's barracks the squad members were quickly climbing out of bed, and running around getting their PT and other gear on. Vyse quickly sat up and looked down at his wrist watch.

"Oh man...5:00 A.M." said Vyse, letting out a loud groan. He then looked across the room at Aika's bunk that was on the other side of the room, opposite of his bunk. Aika was still laying down, but her hands were up against her forehead and she was slowly moving back and forth. Curious, Vyse quickly got out of bed and made his way over to her bunk.

"Aika Babe, time to get up." said Vyse, "Don't want to be late on our very 1st day here."

Aika then slowly sat up, and moved her hands away from her forehead, revealing a large, dark bruise on her forehead and some tears in the corners of her eyes.

"Ouch..." said Aika, fighting back tears.

"Aika...babe, what happened?!?." said Vyse, sitting down on Aikas bed next to her and brushing some hair away from her forehead, examining the bruise.

"That Siren scared me so much when it went off that I sat up in my bed way too fast and slammed my forehead against one of the top bunks support bars." said Aika, wincing in pain as Vyse touched the bruised area.

"Hey you two!, hurry up and get your PT gear on!." said a female voice, "Drill Instructor Rodriguez is not someone that you want to keep waiting."

"My best friend hurt herself." said Vyse, moving slightly to the right so the other girl could see Aika's injury.

"Oh dear..." said the girl, but she quickly ran to her footlocker and returned with a strange looking blue device. It had a clear dome at one end and a small turn dial on the other end.

"Ok, move aside...boy." said the girl, and Vyse moved aside and let the other girl sit down next to Aika. The girl then gave the small device a quarter or a turn to the right and the clear dome began to emit a bright blue light. The girl then moved aside some of Aika's hair that was in front of her forehead and began to softly moved the blue light back and forth across Aika's forehead.

And very quickly, the pain began to go away, moments later it was completely gone. The bruise also became less visible.

"There we go, all done." said the cheerful girl.

Aika placed her hand against her forehead and felt the area where she hit her forehead and it was pain free. "Wow...thanks alot." said Aika

The girl smiled even more and leaned towards Aika, "One more thing for good measure." she said, she then gave Aika a soft kiss on her forehead where her injury was. This caused Aika's eyes to shoot wide open in surprise, she even let out abit of a surprised gasp.

"Hope you feel better beautiful. Oh and I'm Dallas by the way, Engineer class. Nice to meet you." said Dallas.

Aika nodded, her eyes still wide open, "Yeah...nice to meet you Dallas." she said.

Dallas stood up and patted Aika twice on the shoulder, "Now come on, get up!." ordered Dallas, "It's time for training to start.", Dallas then left the barracks along with afew other squad members.

"Well...she's certainly friendly." said Vyse, "Well, I guess I'll see you out there Aika.", Vyse then finished slipping into his PT gear and ran out of the barracks towards the training fields.

Aika sighed nervously and swung her legs over the side of her bed, "Gotta do my best today." thought Aika and she got up and put her PT gear on, but by this time she was the last one left in the barracks. And as Aika was lacing up her boots she heard a knock on the door, she turned her head and saw Rosie standing in the doorway. She was smiling at Aika, but at the same time she was tapping her wrist watch.

"With a time like this it would be best if you just quit and left Squad 7." said Rosie, "Save the Lieutenant the trouble of taking time out of his schedule to grade you two foreign riffraff.", Rosie then turned and left the squad barracks.

Aika finished tying up her boots and ran out of the barracks as fast as she could and made her way over to the training field. "_No...I won't quit, I'll never quit. I have to do this, for Vyse and for myself. He'd never give up, so neither will I_." thought Aika.

She then reached the training field and quickly found her squad, which was already formed up and listening to Drill Instructor Rodriguez, the other squads 1-9 were already training elsewhere with other Drill Instructors.

"Welcome to your worst nightmare Maggots!." shouted Drill Instructor Rodriguez, "I am your senior Drill instructor Rodriguez. I will PT you until you drop from exhaustion, but this will make you stronger and forge you into a fighting machine for the Gallian Militia."

"Sir, yes sir!!." everyone shouted in unison.

Instructor Rodriguez then looked towards the back of the squad and saw Aika jogging towards the group. Drill instructor Rodriguez sighed loudly, "You there Maggot!, front and center!!." shouted Rodriguez.

"Sir, yes sir!." said Aika and she quickly jogged up to the front of the squad and stood in front of Instructor Rodriguez.

"Now tell me Maggot, Why are you late!!." asked Instructor Rodriguez, Aika trembled slightly in fear, the instructor was a different man now then the friendly man she had met earlier.

"S-sir I...no excuse sir." said Aika, "It won't happen again."

"It had better not maggot." said Rodriguez, "You wanted to be here, but you are far from being squad 7 material. Now drop and give me 20 push up!!"

"Sir yes sir!." said Aika and she quickly laid down and began to pump out a fast set of push ups in front of the entire squad as Drill instructor Rodriguez counted Aika's push ups.

Just then someone began to chuckle loudly, "15...16," said Rodriguez, he then heard the laughter and this angered him and he quickly Left countings, "Who the hell is it who thinks laughing at another squad member is acceptable!!."

"Sorry sir, it was me sir." said a spikey dark brown haired recruit, and Rodriguez stepped infront of the recruit and glared down at him.

"What's your name maggot?!?" asked Rodriguez.

"Sir it's Ted Ustinov sir." said Ted, Rodriguez then grabbed Ted by the front of his shirt and pulled him away from the other squad members. He then pointed to the central command building which was about 1 kilometer away.

"See that building, Run there and back NOW!!." Ordered Rodriguez, Ted saluted Rodriguez before running off towards the central command building and the same time Aika had finished doing her push ups and was standing at attention again.

"Now get into formation." ordered Rodriguez

"Sir, yes sir!." said Aika, saluting Rodriguez before rejoining the the squad members and stood at attention with them. Vyse quickly glanced over at Aika and sighed.

"_Hang in there Aika_." thought Vyse.

All of squad 7 then began their intense day of morning training, with brisk jog, followed by lots of jumping jacks, push ups, pull ups and sit ups, followed by scaling many different obstacles. But Aika excelled in this part of training, her adventurous lifestyle had build up her endurance and stamina to great levels.

The squad was dismissed to go back to the barracks, get changed and head to the mess hall.

The entire squad was slowly moving through the cafeteria, piling all kinds of food onto their trays and heading off to different tables in the mess hall. Aika had her tray piled with food and was looking for a place to sit. But most of the tables were taken up and Aika felt alittle shy about sitting with such big groups of strangers. Vyse was still in line, so she figured she'd better find a place for the both of them.

She spotted one large table, with a single dark haired female sitting alone, eating her meal. Aika felt that maybe that would be a good place to sit, it was not a big group and she'd have a chance to meet another squad member who was alone like herself. So she made her way over to the table.

"Hello." said Aika, as she smiled. The dark haired girl, only one had of her eyes visible with all of her dark hair covering most of her face, but she just glanced momentarily at Aika with her one visible eye, then went back to eating, without responding.

"Um...do you mind if I sit here?." asked Aika, placing her free hand on top of one of the free chairs.

"Don't even think about it." said the dark haired girl, "I eat as I fight, alone."

"Oh...ok. Sorry about that." said Aika, taking her hand off of the chair and taking a step back.

"Don't be sorry, just leave." said the dark haired girl.

Aika nodded and turned around, and she soon spotted a familiar face as Nadine was waving to her from the table she was sitting at. Aika smiled and made her way over to Nadines table, which had 3 other people sitting at it as well. She soon found an empty seat and sat down, the other squad members smiled and nodded politely to Aika.

"Aika, I'd like you to meet Karl Landzaat, his girlfriend Lynn, who is a fellow Darcsen like me and Aisha Neumann." said Nadine as she pointed at the other squad members at her table.

"Nice to meet you all, I'm Aika Thompson by the way." said Aika, being grateful to meet the other members of squad 7. "It's nice to see that there are some friendly people in squad 7." whispered Aika.

"Haha, it's alright, don't mind Marina." said Aishia, "She just doesn't like other people for some reason, not even little kids like myself."

Aika tilted her head slightly, "How old are you Aisha?." asked Aika.

Aisha smiled and held up her hands, "I'm this old." said Aisha, holding up 1 finger with her left hand and 2 fingers with her right hand.

Aika gasped, "Your only 12 years old?!?" said Aika, surprised that someone so young would even be allowed to join the Militia.

"Hey guys, mind if I join ya?" said Vyse, finally back from the cafeteria. He then found a seat and joined the group.

The group then engaged in introductions and small talk, shortly after everyone finished eating and got up to go to the afternoon in-class lectures and lessons.

"Hey Aika." said Vyse, Aika turned around and smiled at Vyse.

"What's up Vyse baby?." asked Aika, Vyse sighed and took hold of Aika's hands.

"Aika babe, it looks like from now, until the end of today you and I will be separated." said Vyse, "I've got shock trooper class and range practice all afternoon and into the evening. But I'll see you back at the barracks tonight right. Good luck and I know that you'll do great today."

Aika was nervous, because she had tried to hard earlier because Vyse was nearby, so she did it both to impress him and just him being nearby gave Aika courage.

"Uh...ok babe." said Aika, "Good luck to you to.", Vyse smiled at Aika and headed off in a different direction to his afternoon classes.

The afternoon class had Aika sitting in a class room, with a much older EW1 scout war veteran teaching the class scouting techniques and other useful information that applied to the scouts job during battle.

The evening class had Aika at the shooting range along with the rest of the scouts from Squad 7. It was the first time Aika got the chance to actually hold and use her rifle for the first time. And best of all, Alicia was the teacher for the day.

"Squad, prepare to fire!!." shouted Alicia and at the same time everyone raised their rifles up.

"Ready!", everyone brought their rifles up to their shoulder

"Aim!", everyone closed one eye and looked through the sights of their guns at the targets set up down range.

"Fire!!.", and the air filled with numerous gunshots going off simultaneously, followed by many loud pings as the bullets hit the targets.

Aika, however missed her target completely and she lowered her gun and rubbed her shoulder. The recoil was alot more then she expected, the butt of the rifle hitting her shoulder hurt pretty bad as well.

"Reload!." shouted Alicia as she walked back and forth slowly behind each of the scouts, and everyone loaded another round into their rifles.

She then gave the order to fire once more, this time Aika managed to hit the target, but only just barely. Hitting the white most outer ring of the 3 ring target. Aika let out a loud disappointed sigh. She then looked behind her and saw Alicia standing behind her, her hands held together behind her back. She then took a step towards Aika and helped her raise the rifle up once more.

"Make sure the rifle butt is tight against your shoulder." she instructed, pressing the butt of the rifle hard against Aikas shoulder.

"Now, aim carefully and hold your breath just before you fire." Alicia continued, Aika nodded and followed her instructions.

"And lastly, slowly squeeze the trigger, don't pull." said Alicia, Aika nodded once more.

"Fire!." and Aika fired her rifle and this time his the red center of the bulls eye dead on. Aika was so surprised she couldn't help but chuckle happily and look back and smile at Alicia.

"Excellent work, right on the mark." said Alicia, patting Aika on the shoulder before continuing on walking down the line of other scouts.

Meanwhile Welkin was standing on top of a large observation platform high above the entire training fields, he lowered a pair of binoculars that he was looking at Aika with and smiled. And with a clipboard in hand he gave Aika a passing mark on her rifle range ability.

"_Looks like they're both preforming quite well_." thought Welkin.

Not long after Range was done, and all of the squad members had finished their 1st day of training and were on their way back to squad 7's barracks.

"_I hope we did well today Vyse_." thought Aika to herself as she followed the rest of squad 7's scouts back to the barracks.


	7. Chapter 7

_Hello readers, lately I have been working 2 jobs at the same time...University is VERY expensive, but soon I will only be working 1 job until September, when I go back to University. After this week, I will update my story more often...hopefully and the story will be done by September, when I begin my 2nd year of University._

**Chapter 7- welcome to the squad.**

Vyse and Aika were sitting together at a small round table inside of squad 7's barracks, it was now the end of the training day and all of squad 7's troops were relaxing together. Some were playing card games, others were sitting in small groups talking to each other.

"So Vyse, how was your day?." asked Aika, Vyse smiled.

"Hehe, it was fantastic." said Vyse, "Getting to use my machine gun was an amazing experience. I was told I did the best out of an of the new recruits."

"I'm glad Vyse." said Aika, "It seems that we both preformed well today. I just hope it was enough to please Lieutenant Gunther."

Just then a silver haired girl with 2 very long ponytails walked by Vyse and Aika's table.

"Uummm...Vyse." said the girl, Aika and Vyse looked up at her, "Thanks for the helpful pointers and tips you gave me during training. It helped alot."

"Hehe, No problem Eddie." said Vyse, the girls smile faded and she looked alittle annoyed.

"I keep telling you, my name is Edy, not Eddie!!. Like E-D it's that simple." said Edy Nelson, Vyse chuckled.

"Yeah...sorry, I keep forgetting. I'll try and remember from now on." said Vyse, another girl came up to Edy's side and placed her hands on Edys shoulders.

"Come on Edy, let's get back to our card game." said the blonde haired girl.

"Alright Cherry, I just wish people would remember my name by now." said Edy, and the two girls departed from Vyse and Aika's table.

Just then another recruit approached Aika and Vyse's table, Aika immediately recognized him as being the one who was laughing at her during her punishment by Drill Instructor Rodriguez.

The boy was visibly nervous, "Hello, I'm Ted and I just came over here to apologize." said Ted, "You see, I was not laughing at you, laughing is just something that I do when I'm nervous. It's a really strange habit."

Aika then smiled, "Hey no problem." said Aika, she then extended her hand out to him, "I'm Aika Thomspon and this here is my best friend Vyse Inglebard."

Ted briskly shook Aika's hand, "Nice to meet the both of you. And I'm really glad that you decided to join the Militia. Being Non-gallian and all, I really admire that." said Ted. "Well, I hope to see you around. I guess we will since we're both scouts and all."

Ted then departed and went back the group of people he was sitting with earlier.

In the center of the room, a large group of squad 7's members were playing a card game, Cathrine O'Hara looked her cards and smiled "Sorry Chaps, doesn't look like I have anything except for...this." she said, laying down her cards, revealing a major winning hand.

The room then filled with lots of disappointed groans as everyone threw their cards down on the table.

"Well looks like I'm out of both money and patience. So I'm done." said Noce, sliding his chair away from the table and going back to his bunk.

"Yeah me to, no way I'm playing against Cathrine anymore...you sure you shuffled that deck last hand?." said Theold, setting down his cards and walking away from the table.

Cathrine laughed and gave a peace sign, "Absolutely, guess I'm just lucky." said Cathrine, "Everyone else still in?."

"Yeah why not." said Juno.

"Guess I could try another hand, Cathrine couldn't possibly win 4 times in a row." said Audrey

Elysse let out a long yawn as she stretched out in her chair, "Sure why not, I've got all the time in the world." said Elysse.

"Ain't no way I'm losing to a scrawny thing like you. Count me in for another hand." said Rosina.

"Well Chaps, looks like we got afew spots open. Think we should invite those two over?." asked Cathrine, motioning over to Vyse and Aika.

Everyone looked over at Vyse and Aika who were sitting together, "Sure why not." said Elysse.

"Yeah sure." said Juno, nodding her head in agreement

Dallas nodded her head, "Sure, so long as most of us playing are female, I don't care one way or the other." said Dallas.

"Alright, then it's settled." said Cathrine, she then waved in Vyse and Aika's direction and caught Vyse's eye, "Hey, we've got some spots open if you want to come and join us." said Cathrine aloud, Vyse and Aika looked at each other, nodded and made there way over to the table.

"Well hellooooooo beautiful~!!." said Dallas to Aika as she joined the table, "And hello boy I guess."

"Yeah nice to meet you to." said Vyse, smiling

Aika sat down just in time to hear Ted telling the end of a joke, "Like I'm really gonna eat a bunch of bananas after that!!." said Ted, laughing louder then Nadine, Karl, Lynn and Aisha who he was telling the jokes to. Aika got the impression that they were just laughing politely at Ted's jokes. Marina who was sitting alone on her bed across from them cleaning her sniper rifle with a white rag, just shook her head slowly. Aika could see that she rolled her one visible eye after hearing Ted's lame joke.

Cathrine just smiled and shook her head as she shuffled the deck of cards for a new hand. Aika kept her eyes over at Ted and his audience, maybe his jokes would get better, maybe they wouldn't.

Ted clapped his hands together once, "Ok I got another one!!." said Ted, "Why did the Porcavian cross the road?."

Marina sighed loudly, "To beat up the idiot on the other side telling jokes about him." said Marina emotionlessly.

This caused the entire room, including Aika and Vyse to laugh out loud. But Marina didn't even crack a smile at her own joke as she continued to clear her sniper rifle.

Ted laughed sarcastically, "Haha...I'm the one telling the jokes if you don't mind." said Ted, he then noticed that Marina had her usual emotionless blank look on her face.

"Don't you ever smile?." asked Ted, Marina just looked up at him with a slight glare, then looked back down at her rifle. "Oh boy, now I'm really curious. I'm gonna make you smile before this wars over."

"Yeah good luck with that." said Cathrine, "I'm a sniper just like her, But I've never seen her smile once all the time I've trained with her."

"Well I ain't gonna quit until I see a smile on her face." said Ted.

"Alright, back to the game." said Cathrine as she finished shuffling the deck of cards. "You ever played dead man's chest?." asked Cathrine

Just then the front doors to squad 7's barracks opened up and Alicia quickly entered the room, "Squad attention!!!." shouted Alicia and immediately everyone in the room stood up and stood at attention. Welkin Gunther then entered the room, Rosie and Largo following close behind him.

"Squad salute!!." ordered Alicia and everyone in the room saluted Lieutenant Gunther, he returned the salute.

"Everyone, we don't have to be so formal all the time." said Welkin, laughing.

"Squad, stand at ease!." said Alicia and everyone went to at ease position with their hands behind their backs.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your relaxation time, but there is an emergency dispatch from Captain Varrot. It seems that the Vasal bridge has fallen to the Empire's army." announced Welkin, and the room filled with worried, hushed murmurs and whispers.

"Furthermore squad 7 has been ordered to move out at first light and march to the city of Vasal to take back the bridge from the Imperial army stationed there." said Welkin, "I know that you are all ready for this, you've trained for this. Now get some rest, the squad will leave at 6:00 A.M."

"Sir yes sir!!." said everyone in unison.

Welkin Gunther then looked at Vyse and Aika, "Vyse Inglberd and Aika Thompson, front and center." said Welkin.

Vyse and Aika quickly rushed up to Lieutenant Gunther and stood at attention in front of him, both of them then gave Lieutenant a respectful salute, Welkin returned the salute. "At ease." said Welkin, Vyse and Aika went to at ease position.

"Judging by your progress I witness today, I believe that you are both ready to be official members of Squad 7." said Welkin, reaching into his pocket and pulling out two Squad 7 patches that had a white stallion with a large #7 on it. Vyse and Aika took the squad 7 patch and were too shocked and emotional to say anything.

Alicia smiled and began a slow clap, which was soon joined in by Welkin, then Isara, soon followed by everyone else in squad 7, the room then burst into joyous cheers and whistles as Vyse and Aika looked back at the other squad members and smiled ear to ear.

Vyse looked at Welkin and saluted him once more, "Thank you sir!, it's an honor!." said Vyse, "Now let's go kick this war in the teeth!!."

"Thank you very much sir!." said Aika, "I'll do my best, sound good Welkin?."

"Alright, get some rest and be ready, for tomorrow we march to Vasal city and to WAR!!!" said Welkin, saluting the entire squad before departing, with Alicia, Rosie and Largo close behind him.

Once he was gone, everyone member of squad 7 approached Vyse and Aika, and exchange handshakes and pats on the back as they welcomed the now official members of squad 7 into the squad. Nadine was the last to shake Vyse and Aikas hand.

"I knew you guys could do it." said Nadine, "Never doubted you for a second."

"Thanks, I just wish we had more time to celebrate." said Vyse, it was already late and they had to depart very early the next day to make the long march to the city of Vasal.

"Yes, so I shall say goodnight to the both of you and I'll see you tomorrow." said Nadine, smiling.

Everyone in the barracks got into their sleeping clothes and went straight to bed. But Aika just laid in bed, staring up at the bottom of the top bunk, her hands were trembling slightly as she pulled the covers up close to her face.

"So tomorrow we are actually going to fight against the Imperials for real." thought Aika, her hands shaking even more. The thought of having real bullets fired at her, or her firing at real people was a scary idea. But that's what war was about.

Aika then rolled over on her side and closed her eyes, drifting off slowly to a uneasy, dreamless sleep.

Very early the next morning, at 5:00 A.M. on the dot, Aika was awoken by Rosie who was walking up and down the line of bunks blowing a whistle very loudly.

"Come on come on, get out of your bunks!!." shouted Rosie, "You have 1 hour to get ready to march so you can shower, you can shave, but you must hurry!!."

And everyone quickly got out of their bunks, ran to the restrooms, then got changed into their full battle gear. Aika made sure to take a long hot shower, for she was not sure when she'd be able to do so again once she and everyone else left the base. Once she was clean, she ran to her foot locker and got changed into her full Blue, Red and White Militia Uniform, she then retrieved her binoculars from her foot locker and ran to the squads armory at the back of the barracks and retrieved her scout rifle.

Just as she was about to leave the barracks Nadine stopped her, "Hey Aika, before we get to marching I have something that I want to give you." she said, she then handed Aika a large pair of clear lens goggles. "My favorite work goggles, I blessed it with a Darscen good luck and protection charm. I didn't have time to make you a Darcsen protection charm doll for you, so I'll give you these for now. May it keep you safe during the fighting."

"Wow Nadine...I don't know what to say." said Aika, "I just wish I had something to give you."

"Hey, don't worry about it. You can give me something later on if you'd like. But we have to get moving." said Nadine, she then exited the barracks with Karl and Dallas, Squad 7's other Engineers.

Aika looked down at the goggles and smiled, she then put them ontop of her head and exited the squad barracks. Once outside, she saw that Lieutenant Gunther's blue and white tank, the Edelweiss was standing Idol near the front gates of the Militia Base. The Edelweiss's radiator gave off a beautiful blue glow as the tank rumbled softly.

Once everyone was gathered outside, around the Edelweiss, Lieutenant Gunther appeared from the top hatch and looked down at all of his soldiers.

"Alright, this is it." said Welkin, "Are we ready to march?."

"Sir yes sir!!." said everyone in Unison, Welkin smiled, then nodded.

"Alright, Squad 7 Move out!!." shouted Welkin, waving his arm forward.

The Edelweiss drove slowly down the center of the road leading away from the base, 4 blue and white supply vehicles following behind the Edelweiss, while all the other members of squad 7 were marching on either side of the road, both ahead and behind the Edelweiss.

Aika was with the scouts, who were the advanced party of the convoy, they remained quite far ahead of the Edelweiss, it's convoy of supply vehicles, as well as the Shocktroopers, Lancers and Engineers. Keeping an eye out for any enemy soldiers, or other dangers to Squad 7.

A few hours into their march Vyse spotted Nadine who was talking to Alicia who was sitting onto of the Edelweiss. So he made his way over to her.

"Yo Nadine!." called Vyse, Nadine turned around and saw Vyse, smiled and waved to him. She finished her conversation with Alicia then stopped and waited for Vyse to catch up.

"So what can you tell me about where we're headed?." asked Vyse.

"Well we're heading to Vasal city." said Nadine, "It's a very beautiful, prosperous city. Which is located on both banks of the the great vasal bridge, which spans the Vasel river. The bride itself is a massive iron drawbridge, also it's a major transit gateway to the capital of Gallia and the rest of the outer world. Once the war started, Gallia made sure to destroy every bride along the vasal river, to ensure only 1 bridge remained. Which was the great vasal bridge....which is why I guess the Imperials decided to capture it."

"Sounds interesting." said Vyse.

Just then Rosie and Largo pushed their way past Vyse and Nadine, "Outta my way pack mule." said Rosie to Nadine. Largo laughed loudly.

"Good one Rosie." laughed Largo and the two exchanged high fives.

Vyse became angry and gripped the stock of his machine gun tightly, But Nadine placed her hand on Vyses shoulder.

"Don't bother, it's something I've grown used to." said Nadine, "Besides, I've been called much worse things in my life."

"Vasal city is just up ahead!!." shouted Alicia from atop the Edelweiss, everyone looked down from the mountain road they were marching down. There were large black columns of smoke rising from both the eastern and western bank of Vasal city, signs that major fighting had gone on earlier.

Far ahead Aika was looking down at Vasal City with her binoculars, she saw many Imperial soldiers, as well as some Imperial tanks inside of the city. As well as some blue and white destroyed Gallian tanks in the city streets.

Aika lowered the binoculars and sighed, "_Looks like the Imperials have captured both banks of the city, the bridge is in their hands as well...this operation won't be easy_." thought Aika.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8- Taking back Vasal City**

Lieutenant Gunther's squad was pulling into a small Gallian base set up a kilometer outside of Vasal City. The base had 8 large, rectangular army tents set up in a square formation. Once the entire squad was in he ordered everyone to unload the supply vehicles.

Aika took a small blue crate of ragnaid capsules from Nadine, who was in the bed of the supply truck handing items to the squad members.

"Take this crate to the medical tent." said Nadine, pointing to a large, white rectangular tent set up in the middle of the camp. Aika nodded and made her way over there. She spotted Vyse and quickened her pace to catch up with him. And together they made their way to the medical tent.

Once they were inside they spotted a blonde haired medic who was kneeling down, holding hands with a dark haired girl, wearing a red bandana across her forehead. She had such a sad look on her face.

"It's not your fault Claudia." said the medic to the distraught girl, "So stop blaming yourself for what happened."

"I should of tried harder to convince my lieutenant not to attack the city directly." said Claudia, "But he just wouldn't listen, I tried to warn him of the danger."

"Claudia, your way too hard on yourself." said the medic, "There was nothing else you could of done.", Claudia just sighed and nodded her head.

The female medic stood up and placed her hand on top of Claudias' shoulder sympathetically, she then looked back and spotted Vyse and Aika who were waiting in the entrance with the medical supplies.

"You may come in." she said, removing her bloodstained gloves and tossing them onto a table beside her.

Vyse and Aika entered the tent, "I have a crate of Ragnaid here for you." said Aika.

"And I've got canteens of water." said Vyse, the medic nodded, turned around and gestured for Vyse and Aika to follow her, which they did.

And together, the three of them made their way to the back of the medical tent, passing rows of wounded Gallian Militia men and women. Some were crying out in pain, others were receiving treatment from two other female medics. On the ground were blood stained bandages and dozens of empty Ragnaid capsules.

"What happened here?." asked Aika.

"Militia squad 8 attempted to retake the city of Vasal." said the medic, "But it was a disaster. They were completely wiped out...all except for poor Claudia, she's the only one who managed to make it back unharmed. The rest of her squad were either killed or seriously wounded."

"Oh no...that's terrible." said Aika, Vyse nodded.

"It was something that could of been avoided, if their tank commander had taken the time to properly scout the area first. But once his squad arrived here, they set out immediately to try and retake the city." said the medic, "Their squad had marched all day and were already fatigued. But the tank commander ordered the attack right away."

"That's just plain reckless." said Vyse, Aika and the medic nodded in agreement.

The trio then reached the back of the tent and set the supplies down on top of two metal tables, the medic immediately opened up the Ragnaid crate and took a handful of the capsules and 2 canteens of water and headed back down the row of wounded soldiers.

"Please don't make the same mistake the last squad did." said the medic, "Be sure to scout out the area first and proceed cautiously."

"Absolutely." said Vyse, "What's your name by the way?."

"My names Fina, but you can just call me Doc, everyone does." said Fina.

"And I'm Vyse Inglebard, this here is my best friend Aika Thompson." said Vyse.

"Nice to meet you both." said Fina, "Good luck out there, your gonna need it."

Vyse and Aika made their way out of the tent, but as they approached Claudia, who was still looking down at the ground sadly, they wanted to stop and say something but could not think of what to say to someone who had just lost her entire squad. So they just walked past her and left.

About 2 hours later Alicia and Juno had returned from their scouting mission of Vasal City. A squad meeting was then held just outside of the Gallian base, with the whole squad gathered around the Edelweiss. Alicia was holding up large, squad pieces of paper, with the mission plan drawn on it. Once Welkin was done describing the mission details for one of the pieces of paper, Alicia flipped it to the next sheet.

Just then Claudia approached the group slowly, and Welkin stopped speaking and looked up at her.

"Excuse me sir." said Claudia, "I request permission to join your squad in helping to take back Vasal City."

"Soldier...I appreciate your offer. But you've just come back from some intense combat, I do not think it's a good idea to get back into the fight so quickly." said Welkin.

"But you haven't been inside the city...I have." said Claudia, "I know the layout of the cities streets, where the enemy base is located, as well where the enemy has concentrated most of their forces."

Welkin sighed and placed his hand against his chin, "I don't know..." said Welkin.

"Sir, please allow me to accompany your squad." said Claudia, "I need to do this, I failed to help my squad during our last engagement, so I need to do this for them...I have to complete my mission."

Welkin nodded, "Very well Soldier." said Welkin, "What's your name and class??."

Claudia stood up and saluted Welkin, "I'm Claudia Mann, Engineer Class of the former Squad 8."

"Alright, welcome to squad 7 for the time being." said Welkin.

Claudia then climbed on top of the Edelweiss and with a red marker, marked down all of the enemies positions and other useful intel she had collected onto Alicia's mission planner. And with this new information, Welkin revised his plan. His new attack plan would consist of an offensive team attacking along the waters edge on the Western embankment, and another team who would take an enemy supply post located just inside market square of the city.

"Is everyone clear on the mission plan??." asked Welkin, everyone nodded.

"Alright, split into two teams then." ordered Welkin, "Half will accompany me and the other half go with Largo and attack the enemies forward supply post. According to Claudia's information, it will be heavily guarded, but it's extremely vital that we capture this post."

Welkin's team consisted mostly of scouts, as his team had the most ground to cover. Something that scouts excelled in, as they carried the least amount of equipment. And with the Edelweiss covering the scouts, it allowed the more powerful shock troopers and lancers to join Largos team, which had the most enemies to fight as they made their way to the enemy supply base, through the city streets.

Aika was on Welkin's team, along with Nadine and the other scouts of squad 7. But Vyse was on Largos team with the other shock troopers, lancers and half of the engineers. Just before Largos team was about to set off, Aika found Vyse and pulled him off to the side to speak to him.

"Aika babe...are you scared?." asked Vyse, he could see that Aika was trembling slightly, but she put on a brave smile.

"Yes, alittle." said Aika, her smile then faded as she grabbed ahold of Vyse's hands with her own. "Vyse...please don't get shot, I don't know what I'd do without you.", Aika lowering her head sadly

"Hey, don't think like that." said Vyse, placing his hand underneath Aika's chin and slowly lifting her head up to look into her eyes again.

"We've been through tougher situations like this in our previous adventures and that was just the two of us." said Vyse, "Now we have a whole team on our side. Everything will be just fine."

Aika smiled again, "Your right Vyse, I'm sorry for thinking so negatively." said Aika.

"Hey Vyse!!, get back over here!!." shouted Largo, "We have to move out!!."

"Coming sir!." shouted Vyse back, he then looked down at Aika, pulled her close and gave her a hug. Which she returned, hugging him long and hard.

Tears began to well up in Aika's eyes, but she fought them back as hard as she could. She released a long sigh, before looking up at Vyse. "I'll see you in the city Vyse." she said, Vyse patted her on the head before letting her go and jogging to catch up to Largo's team.

Aika then ran back and joined up with Welkin's team along side the river bank. As she looked around she saw Alicia speaking to Welkin on top of the Edelweiss. Nadine looked over at Aika and gave a thumbs up, but she could see that she was also visibly scared.

Alicia then jumped down from the tank and looked back at the other scouts, "Get into position!!." she ordered.

And Juno, Noce, Ted, Cherry, Aika and Alicia stood on either side of the Edelweiss. Nadine and Dallas, the engineers stood behind the Edelweiss, while Rosie was kneeling on top of the Edelweiss, just behind the turret. Cathrine O'Hara was up in the tallest tree she could find, far behind the group, providing sniper support.

Welkin checked his wrist watch, and saw that the other squad should be in position according to the time on the mission plan. So he opened the hatch of the Edelweiss and stuck half of his body out of the hatch, looking down at his teammates. He didn't say anything as he looked around at his teammates, but everyone he looked at nodded their heads, signalling they were ready.

"Alright this is it." said Welkin, reaching down to his flare gun holster and taking out the flare gun. He aimed it high and fired, the brightly glowing flare shooting high into the air before falling back slowly to the earth.

"MOVE!!." shouted Alicia, waving her arm forward.

The Edelweiss drove forward at a steady enough pace that the scouts and engineers were able to keep up as they jogged both alongside the tank and just behind it.

Aika's eyes were looking left to right as she ran alongside the Edelweiss on the left hand side. She could see that the enemy knew they were coming as Imperial soldiers ran forward, kneeling behind some sandbags up ahead.

She then saw some puffs of smoke coming from behind the sandbags, followed by a loud, long whistling sound, getting closer and louder.

"Enemy mortars!!." shouted Rosie from atop of the Edelweiss.

There was an explosion far to the left of the group as they continued their charge forward, followed by another explosion right beside it. Dust, and debris was throw high into the air, as well as smoke from the explosions.

Aika ducked as she continued running forward, some bits of grass and dirt rained down upon her and her team as she continued the charge with her group. She then looked beside her and saw the giant turret of the Edelweiss begin to rotate to the left, the barrel dropping down a couple of inches. An extremely loud bang rang out as the turret of the Edelweiss fired a cannon round at the Imperial soldiers, the round striking the sandbags and sending some enemy soldiers flying in all directions from the explosion.

Aika looked far to her left and saw many more explosions coming from the direction of where Vyses team was attacking. She was worried, but looked forward again and continued to run alongside the Edelweiss.

Far to the rear of Welkin's team, Cathrine O'Hara raised her rifle up and looked through the scope and found the 3 man crew operating the mortar.

"Nasty little devils those mortars." said Cathrine, she then zoomed in for a head shot on the imperial solider who was passing the mortar rounds to the operator. She slowly squeezed the trigger and fired off a round, which struck the imperial soldier in the head and he fell off to the side.

Cathrine quickly cocked back her bolt action rifle, loading another round into the chamber. "I'm not done yet!." she said aloud, picking her next target, firing another dead center head shot to the operator of the mortar. She quickly reloaded and took aim at the last mortar crew member, who had gotten to his feet and tried to flee. But Cathrine shot him in the back as he was running and he fell to the ground.

Cathrine then lowered her rifle and smiled, "All clear chaps, the rest is up to you." said Cathrine. She quickly climbed down from the tree and run to catch up with the Edelweiss and it's team, so that she could help once they were in the city.

Far to the left of Welkin's team was Largo's team who had already broken through the road blockade, leaving behind two destroyed Imperial tanks and 2 dozen dead Imperial soldiers.

Claudia was running along side Largo as they made their way down the city streets. They got to a 4 way intersection and Claudia pointed to the right. "This way!." said Claudia, "The enemy supply base is just down here.", But as the entire group made a right turn, they ran past a destroyed Blue and White Gallian tank, with 8 dead Militia soldiers on the ground around the tank. Claudia looked at the tank and the dead soldiers as they ran past.

"I'll complete Squad 8's mission commander." said Claudia, she and Largo's team continued down the street, towards the city center.

As they made their way down the street, Largo happened to look up and saw 2 enemy scouts and 1 Imperial officer firing down on them from the roof of a 2 story business.

"Take cover, move to the sides!!." shouted Largo, and his whole group took cover behind pieces of rubble, benches and other cover.

But young Aisha, didn't seem to hear his order in time, as she was far ahead of the group. She raised her machine gun up and fired at the enemy soldiers while trying to run backwards. A bullet grazed her leg and she fell to the ground.

Largo dropped his lance and took a spare rifle that Claudia was carrying for him and fired at the enemies on the roof, before seeing Aisha on the ground, trying to crawl back to the group.

"Help me!!." she cried, bullets hitting the paved streets all around her.

Vyse tried to move forward to get to her, but was pinned down by the Imperial officers machine gun fire.

Edy, who was taking cover behind a bench quickly turned around, raising her hand to the side of her mouth, "MEDIC!!!." she screamed.

And Fina came running down the street, behind the group at full speed. "Please stay strong!, I'm on my way!!." shouted Fina as she ran towards Largo's group.

Vyse looked back and saw Fina running down the middle of the street, not taking cover, not armed with any type of weapon. Vyse then waved Fina over to the large chunk of rock he was hiding behind, "Better hang here for a second Fina!!" Vyse shouted.

But Fina paid no attention to Vyse, as she lept over Vyse and the cover he was using and continued on towards Aisha. "What in the..." said Vyse as he looked over his cover at Fina as she continued running as fast as she could down the street towards Aisha.

Fina then reached Aisha and knelt down beside her, "Hold still, I'm gonna give you some Ragnaid!." ordered Fina, bullets still striking the ground near the two of them.

Fina reached down by her belt and pulled out a Ragnaid capsule, twisted the dial to maximum and the capsule began to glow blue and Fina quickly moved the capsule up and down Aisha's body twice, paying absolutely no attention to the bullets that were whizzing past her and striking the ground next to her.

"Thank you, it doesn't hurt as much anymore." said Aisha, Fina smiled and patted Aisha on the cheek. She then grabbed Aisha by the arm and hoisted her up and onto her shoulders, in a two-shoulder fireman's carry and ran as fast as she could, carrying Aisha back to Largo's squad. Once she reached them she continued carrying Aisha back to the main base, outside of the city.

Vyse was too shock to say anything, after seeing how brave Fina was, never hesitating to help out a teammate in trouble. "Incredible...I've never seen anything like that." said Vyse. He then raised his machine gun back up to his shoulder and fired back at the enemy soldiers on the roof.

Meanwhile Marina, who was hiding behind a destroyed car, slowly raised her sniper rifle up, taking aim at the 3 enemy soldiers on the rooftop.

"Sweet dreams." whispered Marina, she then fired off a round at the Imperial officer dressed in red armor and struck him directly in the head. Her bullet actually hitting in between the eye slit of his helmet. Marina reloaded and shot the next soldier on the rooftop and he fell to the street below. The last solider ran away and disappeared from the rooftop.

"Keep moving forward!!." shouted Largo, and he and his team reached the end of Market street and were now in view of the enemy supply base. Which was guarded by 1 enemy tank and about a dozen enemy soldiers.

Largo fired off his last lance tip, but missed the tank as his lance tip struck the building behind it. He looked back and shouted "RELOAD!!.", Claudia heard this order and ran to largos side. Took off her large blue backpack and opened it, taking out 3 spare anti-tank lance tips and placing them beside Largo who picked one up and attached it to his anti-tank lance. This time when he fired, he hit the tank and destroyed it.

Back on the river side bank, where Welkin's team was located, Aika, Juno, Ted, Noce and Alicia were taking covered behind some sandbags, firing at some Imperial soldiers who were hiding behind another sandbag cover about 50 feet in front of them.

Aika was having a hard time aiming as her hands were trembling and shaking so much from fear. So far she hadn't hit a single Imperial soldier yet. While Juno and Alicia had taken out at least 5 each. Aika then heard the familiar sound of Welkin's tank turret raising up behind her. When she looked back she saw it fire off a large, blue mortar round. she followed it with her eyes and saw it take out the Imperial soldiers in front of them.

Back in the city, Largo's team had secured the enemy supply base and were now waiting for Welkin to join them.

"Hold this position at all costs!!." shouted Largo, and his team moved forward and knelt behind the sandbag covers.

Edy looked down at her machine gun, "I'm out of ammo!!." she shouted, Karl came running to her and took some spare machine gun ammo clips and gave them to Edy. Claudia was doing the same with the other members of Largo's team who needed ammo.

"Radio!!." shouted Largo, and Claudia, Largo's radio operator as well approached Largo and took the telephone like reciever and handed it to Largo.

"Yo kid, do you copy?." said Largo into the radio.

"I hear you loud and clear Largo, what's your status?" said Welkin

"We've taken the enemy supply base, we're now in the market square, awaiting further orders." said Largo.

"We're almost to the western Vasal River side docks. We'll join you shortly." said Welkin.

Just then there was a loud rumbling sound slowly approaching, the ground began to tremble slightly.

"What's that..." asked Lynn, Karl who was beside her looked around but shook his head.

A large Imperial tank then burst through the wall just in front of them, 3 more followed behind it. As well at least 4 dozens enemy troops. The last remnants of the Imperial forces, making one last move to wipe out Largo's team.

Vyse, Lynn and Edy began to fire at the enemy troops. While Elysse, Audrey, Rosina, Theold and Jann aimed at the tanks and fired. But these tanks were much better armored, being the Imperial officers tanks.

"If your coming kid, you better hurry!!." said Largo, throwing down the reciever and picking up his anti-tank lance once again.

"I won't fail!, I won't fail!!." shouted Claudia as she fired her rifle rapidly.

Welkin could hear gunfire and shouting through his headset, "Come on, push forward!!. We have to reach Largo's team before it's too late!!."

The Edelweiss drove forward again with the scouts, engineers running along side it. But as Aika was running, she happened to looked to her left and see an enemy scout appear from the tall grass and raised his rifle. Her eyes opened wide and her mouth dropped open in horror as she saw the gun barrel taking aim at her.

But there were some loud gunshots behind her and the enemy scout was hit, groaning loudly before falling back into the grass. Aika looked behind her and saw Nadine breath a loud sigh of relief, wiping the back of hand across her forehead.

"You alright?." she asked, Aika smiled and nodded.

"Thanks!!, You saved my life!!." said Aika, Nadine smiled.

"Come on, let's keep going!!." said Nadine, grabbing Aika by the arm and pulling her along as they ran together to catch up with the Edelweiss.

Back at Market square, Largo's team was slowly being overwhelmed. "Don't hold back and don't fall back!!." shouted Largo, "Give them everything you've got."

Theold was becoming angry, "Argh!!, I'm not a coward!!." he shouted as she stood up, aimed his anti-tank lance at one of the tanks and fired. But the tank recieved only minor damage. An Imperial officer beside the tank, took aim and shot Theold. Though it was only an arm shot, he fell to the ground, wounded and out of action.

"Theold!!." screamed Edy, screaming louder as she fired her machine gun at the enemy soldiers.

Largo then fired off his last anti-tank lance round and struck the lead tank infront of him. But the round didn't destroy the tank as it exploded against the side of it. It's large barrel slowly turned and targeted him and his squad.

But suddenly the lead tank blew up in a large fireball, bullets were also hitting the enemy soldiers in the backs. Welkin's team had arrived, the remaining Imperial soldiers were now trapped between Largo and Welkin's team. They made the wise choice and dropped their rifles and machine guns to the ground and raised their arms up, surrendering.

"We did it, Vasal Cities Western bank is ours!!." said Welkin, and everyone cheered loudly as they secured the now Imperial prisoners.


	9. Chapter 9

_Note: I realize now that in the last chapter, it was the western bank where the 1st battle took place in the 2 part battle for Vasal bridge in the game, my mistake._

**Chapter 9- For what it's worth**

Vyse and Aika were walking together along the waters edge of Western Vasal City, looking at their objective that was on the other side of the river. The main Imperial base on the Eastern bank of Vasal City. They could see some soldiers patrolling along the road and afew tanks driving down the streets.

Aika's eyes looked towards the giant, blue and white metal bridge linking The Eastern side of Vasal City to the Western side.

"Now that's quite a sight isn't it?." said Aika, Vyse nodded in agreement.

"Still don't know how many Imperials are holed up on the other side of the bridge though." said Vyse, "Could be a heck of alot more then we fought against on this side."

Something caught Aika's eye, it was a small girl sitting at the edge of one of the docks nearby. And as Vyse and Aika got closer, they noticed that it was Claudia, the girl from the ill fated squad 8. Still feeling sorry for the poor girl Vyse and Aika made their way over to her.

"Hey, you ok?." asked Aika. Claudia looked over her shoulder, and tears could be seen falling down her cheeks. She then looked forward again and was moving something around in her hands, something that was giving off a jingling sound as she moved her hands.

Aika took another few steps towards Claudia and looked over her shoulder and saw that Claudia had nearly a dozen Gallian dog tags in her hands. This caused Aika's heart to feel even more pity for Claudia.

"You know...I was thinking." said Claudia, "That maybe I should just jump off this dock and let the river sweep me away."

"What?!?." said Vyse, "Why would you do something crazy like that!!."

Claudia held up the dog tags for Vyse to see, "I just can't forgive myself." said Claudia, her shoulders heaving up and down as she began to sob sadly.

"Forgive yourself for what?." asked Aika, kneeling down and placing her hand on Claudia's shoulder.

"That my whole squad...and all my friends died and I didn't." said Claudia, bringing her interlocked hands up to her face, resting her forehead against her hands, the dog tags hanging from her hands by their chains as she cried even harder.

"I'm sorry about what happened to your squad." said Vyse, "But it's because you survived that has helped our squad achieve a great victory."

"That's right." said Aika, "You were able to give us information that may have saved the lives of many of our squad's soldiers."

"Yeah it was luck-" started Vyse, but Claudia held up her hand and Vyse stopped mid-sentence.

"Don't say that horrible 4 letter word to me." said Claudia, "I wasn't born lucky...it's the reason why so many bad thing's have happened to me."

"If you don't mind me asking, what's happened?." asked Aika.

"Alittle bad luck is understandable and natural, but not with what's happened to me." said Claudia, "My home, the one place I felt safe was destroyed by a stray flying tank shell...I was drafted into the militia, I made some nice friends only to have them killed in this operation...it's all too much!!."

"I'm sorry that so much has happened to you." said Aika.

"Me too." said Vyse, "But I'll say this, I was very happy to have you on our team for the last operation."

"Yeah. You were a great addition to our team." said Aika patting Claudia on the shoulder.

But Claudia just brushed Aika's hand away and stood up, walking past Aika, then Vyse.

"Hey listen." said Aika to Claudia as she continued to walk away, "If you ever need a friend, I'd gladly be it."

"Same here!." said Vyse, "If you ever need someone to talk to or someone who will listen we'll be here."

Claudia stopped in her tracks but did not turn around, "If your trying to make me feel better out of pity...just please stop it."

Aika walked forward and stood beside Vyse, "We're not saying this out of pity. We're just saying that if you need a friend we will be your friend."

Claudia's head dropped forward slightly, "Do you really mean that...even after everything that I've just told you." said Claudia softly, her shoulders visibly trembling.

"Absolutely." said Vyse, "We wouldn't say it if we didn't mean it 100%."

Claudias knees shook for a moment before she dropped to her knees and knelt there trembling, Vyse and Aika rushed up to Claudia's side and knelt down beside her, placing their hands ontop of Claudia's shoulders. They could see that she was trying hard to fight back more tears as she shut her eyes as tight as she could.

"I admit, I would like that..." said Claudia, "But I just can't do it!!. It seems that once I find something that makes me happy, bad luck strikes once again and steals it away from me!!. Tears finally falling from her eyes once again, streaming down her cheeks and dropping to the ground.

"I lived all this time, hoping that if I waited maybe my luck would change and I could finally be happy again. But time and time again the result has always been the same...I lose everything that I hold dear to me. Even when I finally made new friends in squad 8, they all died because of me and my bad luck."

Aika's own eyes began to tear up as well, and soon two tear drops fell from her eyes and ran down her cheeks. Vyses' own heart was starting to feel the pain of sadness for Claudia as well.

"I think that no matter how long I wait, no matter how much I hope, nothing will ever change. Your both very nice, but I'm afraid that if I get too close to the both of you something terrible will happen...I'm so scared of that happening." cried Claudia, sobbing loudly.

Aika wrapped her arms around Claudia and pulled her close, "Just having lived knowing that I was your friend would be enough for me to have no regrets." said Aika.

Vyse smiled. "Just keep believing in yourself, never give up and I'm sure your luck will change. And we'll be there with you when it does." said Vyse.

Just then Nadine came running down to the docks, "Hey guys!!." she called out, "We have a strategy meeting right now!!."

Aika wiped away her tears and stood up and waved to Nadine, "Yeah we're coming." said Aika.

Vyse stood up as well and took two steps with Aika towards the city before turning around and looking back down at Claudia, "Well, you coming??." asked Vyse, grinning.

"Yeah, we'd love to have you come along with us once again." said Aika, holding her hand out to Claudia.

Claudia wiped away her tears with her sleeve, then smiled and took hold of Aika's hand as she helped Claudia to her feet. and together the three new friends made their way to the city center.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10- The Boast**

Aika, Vyse and Claudia were walking through the streets of Vasel city, which was now abuzz with Regular and other Militia squads. Blue and white troop transports were carrying truck loads of regular Gallian soldiers, their uniforms had a darker blue top and black pants, very different from the militias uniforms.

As one of the trucks drove past the group of friends one of the regulars leaned over the side of the truck, "Hey!, not half bad for a bunch of farmers and city kids. Though we'd probably of taken the city in half the time it took you yokels." shouted the regular soldier, the rest of the regular soliders joined in laughing mockingly at Vyse, Aika and Claudia.

Vyse and Aika looked at each other and glared at the regulars as the truck moved on, "Better get used to it." said Claudia, "The Regular army soldiers always look down at us, because we're conscripts who got drafted into the militia when the war started. While they have been in the army for years before the war started, to them we're abunch of nobodies."

"Yeah, well I don't think abunch of nobodys could of taken this side of the Vasel bridge in such a short amount of time." said Vyse, Aika nodded in agreement.

"So which region of Gallia are you two from?." asked Claudia.

"Well to tell you the truth, we only just arrived in Gallia by ship afew days ago." said Aika, "So we're not from this part of the world...far from it in fact."

Claudia stoppped in her tracks, "WHAT?!?." said Claudia, "So...why are you guys even fighting with us?."

"Hehe, there's nothing more we enjoy then a good adventure." said Vyse.

"Well that's not all there is to it, we also made some really good friends not long after we arrived." said Aika, "So we wanted to fight along side them and help them defend their homeland."

"I see...well that's certainly surprising to hear." said Claudia, "And I'm really honored to have you fighting with us."

The group then reached the city center, which had a large rectangular tent set up with a giant '07' written in white letters on the side. Once they entered the tent they saw the rest of the squad members either sitting in chairs or standing together in small groups, waiting for Welkin to arrive and explain their next mission.

Vyse saw Nadine and waved Aika and Claudia to follow him and they joined Nadine's group. Aisha was also back, but was wearing a large white bandage taped to the side of her right thigh.

"Aisha!." said Vyse, "Nice to see your feeling better."

"Yeah, thankfully the bullet only grazed my thigh so the Doc was able to patch it up nicely." said Aisha.

Alicia then entered the tent, "Squad attention!!." she shouted and everyone immediately stood up and came to the position of attention.

Welkin then entered the tent as well, followed by Isara. But the looks on their face was quite concerning, both of them were looking down at the ground with a sad look on their face. Welkin then looked up at his squad members and his eyes moved slowly from right to left as he looked all of them in the eyes.

"I've got some bad news..." said Welkin, "The army wants us to attack the bridge head by ourselves. There will be no support from the main army for this attack."

Everyone immediately gasped and looked at each other in disbelief.

"What...they can't possibly mean that!!." shouted Cherry.

"So they want us to go out there alone and attack the main imperial base camp?." asked Nadine.

"That's not entirely true." said Largo, "The main army will take part in this battle...but only AFTER we've attacked the Imperials."

"So they're using us to weaken the Imperials first, then take all the glory for themselves...cowards." said Rosina.

Welkin then held up his hand and everyone became silent and looked towards Welkin, everyone was visibly scared as they nervously waited for their leader to speak once again.

"We achieved a great victory last time, so I believe that is why they have chosen our squad to go in first." said Welkin, "But I do not think that with this new plan we will have the same outcome. The bridge is only wide enough to send in 1 squad at a time and we are to be the leading squad. However...I fear casualties will be extreme."

"I agree." said Rosie, "The Imperials have lost one side of the Vasel bridge already, and I think they're gonna place everything they've got on the other side to stop us from getting across the bridge."

Aika's heart began to beat quicker and harder, she looked over at Vyse and even he began to get beads of sweat on his brow.

Welkin looked down at the ground for a moment then slowly raised his head.

"I'm sure that you all know me by now." said Welkin, "I've heard it whispered among the soldiers and militia...the son of General Gunther, the hero of Bruhl, the list goes on and on. I've even been awarded a medal for my service in Bruhl."

Everyone in the squad nodded their heads, Welkin was the most famous of all the current squad leaders.

"However...none of that means anything to me." said Welkin, and everyone gasped, their eyes growing wide with surprise.

"What matters most to me is you...my squad." said Welkin, "I do not fight for fame or medals, I fight to protect the ones I love, for my home. Each of which mean more to me then all the fame or medals in the world."

Welkin then stood up straight and slowly walked around the room, looking at each of his soldiers. "And I will not follow a battle plan that requires me to use my soldiers as nothing more then sacrificial lambs. I will think of another plan that puts your safety above anything else. In the meantime your all dismissed until further notice."

And as Welkin began to leave the tent everyone began to cheer loudly, clapping their hands, some of the squad members like Juno and Alicia even had tears in their eyes as Welkin disappeared out of the tent.

Towards the end of the day, Vyse, Aika, Nadine and Claudia were sitting together near the river bank. There wasn't much conversation as everyone was in their own little world thinking about the upcoming battle.

Vyse then checked his watch, "Where's Isara?." asked Vyse, "She said she'd come join us didn't she?."

"I'm sure she's on her way." said Nadine, "She was just finishing up repairs on the Edelweiss last time I checked."

"Oh here she comes." said Aika, spotting Isara who was making her way towards them.

However, her path was cut off by Rosie and Largo who were both glaring at her.

"Great now what?." said Vyse as he and everyone else stood up and began to make their way over to Largo and Rosie.

Rosie then reached out and grabbed ahold of Isara by the shawl and pulled her close glaring at her, "Just where do you think your going dark-hair??." asked Rosie, but Isara just looked back her her.

As Vyse's group neared Rosie and Isara, Largo stepped in front of them and stood up straight, his arms folded across his chest as she looked down at Vyse, Aika, Nadine and Claudia.

"This is seriously getting old!." shouted Vyse, Aika and Nadine attempting to hold him back.

"Yeah, and just what are you going to to about it Darcsen lover??." said Largo, putting a cigarette in his mouth and lighting it.

"You've got some nerve dark-hair." growled Rosie, "To prance around in your Darcsen clothing, all proud and true to your heritage. How can you be so proud after what your people have done...you know what I'm talking about."

"Oh yes, I've heard about it more times then you know." said Isara, "Your talking about the Darcsen Calamity."

"Darcsen Calamity?." said Vyse softly, Nadine looked over at him with such a great sadness in her eyes, Aika took notice.

"Ha!, your ready to defend the Darcsens even when you do not know the terrible deeds that these people have done, the destruction they have caused." said Largo.

Vyse was at a lose for words, this time he didn't know what to say this time.

"HOLD ON A MINUTE!!." shouted a familiar voice, and Welkin Gunther was running towards the group.

Rosie growled angrily, then released Isara, Largo also turned around and faced Welkin Gunther.

"Just what's going on here?." asked Welkin

Nadine grabbed ahold of Vyses arm, "I think we'd better go." said Nadine, "This is a conversation between officers."

Vyse sighed then nodded and his group of Nadine, Aika, and Claudia began to walk back into the city, but not before hearing. "I'll have that bridge back in Gallia's hand in the next 48 hours!!." said by Welkin.

Aika turned around, "What does he mean by that..." thought Aika before the group of friends entered the city and got out of earshot from Welkin and the Senior Officers.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11- Miracle girl**

It was late into the night, the members of Squad 7 were all fast asleep inside of Squad 7's tent, some were sleeping in cots, while others were just laying on the ground with a blanket over them.

One solider in particular was tossing and turning, emitting soft moans as a horrible dream played in her mind. More of a recollection of the previous battle her own Squad 8 had engaged in.

She remembered standing with her other squad members in front of her Lieutenants tank. And as she looked up at him, he was reading a piece of paper, an order from headquarters. But upon finishing reading it he angrily crumbled the piece of paper and threw it aside.

"Damn Gunther Brat!!." he growled, "Of all the squads they could of sent to help us retake Vasel city, why did it have to be him!!."

"Is there a problem sir?." Asked Knute, an older gentleman, wearing large framed glasses.

"No problems, we will be moving out shortly though." the squad leader announced.

And Claudia Mann, who was just beginning to unload the squad supply truck stopped and looked over at her squad leader.

"But sir, we do not know the strength of the enemy force." said Claudia, "Aren't we also supposed to wait for another support squad to join us?."

"The bridge was only taken very recently, I do not think the size of the enemy force that captured it could be that great." said the Lieutenant, "Beside, our support squad is the famed Welkin Gunther from Squad 7. If that young brat can do so well against the Imperials by himself, then we wil show him how great Squad 8 can be. So be ready to move out!!."

Everyone in Squad 8 began to look at each other, Claudia was afraid as well. They had only just arrived in Vasel after having marched all day long, half of the supplies were not even unloaded yet.

Claudia then remembered further into the battle as she continued to toss and turn.

Claudia ducked behind her Squad leaders tank as an explosion rang out not far from her, the force of the explosion sent two of her squad mates flying in different directions. One of them slammed through the glass window of a nearby store, the other slammed into a wall and hit the ground, not moving anymore.

"Claudia what's the hold up!!." shouted her Lieutenant as he swung the tank turret from side to side, firing the main machine gun at a group of Imperial Solider taking cover behind sandbags and destroyed cars.

Claudia in the meantime was working as fast as she could to repair tread damage that happened from a well placed enemy lancer's round. But try as she could, she was ill equipped, most of the tools and items that she needed were still in the supply trucks that failed to be unloaded.

"Sir, I cannot repair the tread damage!!." shouted Claudia, another explosion went off to her left and a male and female voice screamed loudly in pain. "Sir, we have to get out of here!!."

Knute then ran up to the tank as well, "Sir we have to pull back now, we've taken too many casualties." warned Knute, "If we go now we can get out of here, no one else has to die!!."

The Lieutenant cursed, "We've got orders!!, we are supposed to retake Vasel bridge!!."

"Attacking this city without another support squad was never part of our orders sir!!." shouted Knute.

A single gunshot rang out and Knute hit the ground, sniped by an enemy sniper. Claudia bent down and tried to shake Knute awake, but he was already gone.

The Lieutenant then began to panic, most of his squad was already wiped out, while others were severly injured. He then ducked back inside of his tank and attempted to reverse the tank, but the tread damage prevented it from moving. He happened to look up just into to see an enemy tank enter his firing scope and turn it's large turret towards his own tank.

"OH SH-" he screamed, before his tank was destroyed by the enemy tank shell, the explosion threw Claudia nearly 20 feet from where she was last kneeling next to Knute. Lucky for her she had stepped away from her Lieutenants tank to check on Knute just before it exploded.

Claudia then sat up and the world around her seemed to move in slow motion, her friends and squad mates bodies were laying dead or severly injured in the streets all around her. She then looked over and saw her Squad Leaders tank destroyed and on fire, thick black smoke spewing from the destroyed remains.

Claudia then felt pair of hands grab her by the backpack straps around her shoulders and begin to drag her away, looking back she saw Fina the Medic pulling Claudia away from the battle just before Claudia passed out.

Claudia then sat up straight upon waking from her nightmare, cold beads of sweat covered her face. Her heart beating furiously, her hands trembling.

Alicia then entered Squad 7's tent and walked up to each soldier and shook them awake, she then reached Claudia. "Huh...awake already??." asked Alicia, Claudia just nodded, "Well good, it's time to move out. Welkin is ready to commence the attack now."

Claudia nodded again and proceeded to help Alicia wake the other squad members. And once everyone was up and gathered all of their gear, everyone exited the tent and proceeded to follow Alicia outside.

It was still dark out, but there was a fog, that was so thick, members at the back of the group lost sight of Alicia who was ahead of the entire group. But soon everyone met up at the riverside were Welkin Gunther's tank was already idoling, many wooden row boats were lined up in the water.

Welkin then explained the plan, detailing the HE would cross the river first, tank and all and then have his soldiers row across the river to get behind the enemy.

"Wow, this plan sounds crazy...but sometimes crazy works." said Vyse to Aika.

"Yeah, You would know all about that better then anyone else." teased Aika, punching Vyse softly in the upper arm.

The plan was then set in motion, with Welkins tank entering the water and the other 20+ members entered the rowboats in groups of 5 to a boat. And quietly but swiftly, everyone began to paddle towards the other shore.

Aika's mind was elsewhere as she moved her paddle through the water, splashing alot of water with each stroke. Rosie looked back at Aika and glared at her.

"Quiet!." she hissed and Aika slowed her rhythm.

Just then there was an extremely loud explosion coming from the other side of the lake, followed shortly by another and fires could be seen burning.

"So much for being quiet!." thought Aika and everyone began to paddle as fast as they could. The boats then reached the other side and everyone hopped out, running up the steep embankment and into the city.

Soon, major fighting took place in the city, members of squad 8 were making their way through the city towards the bridge. The fog was beginning to lift as well. The squad was beginning to lose it's cover now.

welkin's tank drove slowly through the city streets, Welkin pressed the talk button on his headset. "Shock troopers forward!!." ordered Welkin, and Vyse, Edy, Aisha, Rosie and Lynn all moved ahead of Welkin's tank, taking cover behind rubbing, and building doorways as they moved forward, taking down enemy soldiers along the way.

Marina and Cathrine O'Hara were providing sniper support from the 3rd floor of a partially destroyed building with no roof. Marina was following Aisha's advance through her scope, And whenever she was pinned down, Marina quickly found who was shooting at her and took them out. Cathrine was doing the same for Vyse.

Meanwhile Aika was on the 2nd floor of an abandoned building, looking through her binoculars, scouting out enemy positions on the ground. She then heard the rumbling of an enemy tank and swung her binoculars to the right, spotting a light tank moving parallel down the street across from Welkin's position. She reached down and pressed the talk button on her radio.

"Yo Boss, you've got an enemy tank across from you to you right, looks like he's trying to flank your guys position!." said Aika.

"Copy that, thanks for the warning." said Welkin, his tank then stopped and the large turret began to swing to the right, it then fired right through the side of the building next to him and hit the enemy tank broadside, destroying it.

"Great shot Boss!!." said Aika, quickly departing her position and rejoining the squad back on the street level.

Meanwhile on the rooftop of a 3 story building, a large group of soldiers were getting ready for Welkin's squad to move into firing position.

"That's it...just alittle closer." said an enemy officer in red armor, looking down at Welkins approaching squad. His group had a machine gun nest, along with a mortar, 3 lancers and a dozen shock troopers and scouts waiting to ambush them.

Juno, who was crawling on her knees and elbows along the sidewalks, between a building and a long stone flowerbed a short distance ahead of Welkins group, stopped, slowly peered over the top of the flowerbed and down the street. It was strangely quiet, almost too quiet. The fighting up until this point had seemed alittle too easy.

And soon she found out why, as machine gun bullets hit the stone flowerbed, just missing her. She then crawled alittle further and reached the end of the flowerbed and looked up from where she was laying down from. She both saw and heard full auto fire that could only come from an enemy machine gun position, a puff of smoke could be seen, followed by a whistling sound, slowly growing louder, an explosion followed a second later.

"Oh no, if Welkin gets up to here our squad will be ripped apart by that machine gun nest." thought Juno. So she reached down to grab her radio, but something struck her hard in the upper left shoulder, causing her to fly back and hit the wall of the building behind her.

Juno quickly scrambled to find cover, then touch her shoulder area, finding out that she had been shot, probably by an enemy sniper. She had also lost her radio, which was now laying in the middle of the street, impossible for her to reach now. She also could not reach the squad by foot, being shot and pinned down.

Welkin's shock troopers and tank then rounded the next street corner and proceeded on. The enemy officer grinned as they were now in perfect firing position. "FIRE!!." shouted the officer and all of the shock troopers, scouts and machine gun began to rain bullets down on Squad 7.

Aisha was hit in the left leg and hit the ground, "AHH!!, Twice already!!." screamed Aisha as she crawled behind some rubble.

Vyse was running along side Aika when he suddenly dropped to his knees and held his cheek.

"VYSE!!, Oh no!!." cried Aika as she grabbed Vyse around the waist and dragged him to the ground behind a car. "Are you hit??"

Vyse touched his left cheek, just under his eye, a small amount of blood on his glove. "Calm down Aika, it's just a scratch!!." said Vyse, "Now let me up!."

Aika shook her head, "No Vyse, please stay down!!.", as more explosions and bullets hit the pavement, and buildings around them.

Ted and Noce had a mortar round explode not far from them, Ted was throw hard to the left, while Noce got a piece of shrapnel lodged into his right leg and upper arm.

The enemy lancers, then took aim at Welkin's tank, one round hit his tanks tread, causing some damage.

"I need an Engineer over here now!!." ordered Welkin. Claudia Mann was the closest, so she ran up to the left side of the tank and looked down at the tread damage. But before she could start repairs she had a flashback to her nightmare she had earlier, where her Squad Leader had suffered tread damage as well.

"No no..." said Claudia, looking around her, the situation seemed all too similar to her, seeing squad members of her's on the ground, injured. Her Squad leaders tank treads damaged.

Dallas then reached Welkins tank as well, and shoved Claudia aside, who fell down behind some sandbags. "Snap out of it!, Our squad leader needs help!!." said Dallas, who bent down and immediately began to work on repairing the tread damage. Nadine then joined Dallas and they began to work together as fast as they could to fix the damage.

Claudia curled herself up into a ball, holding her hands against her eyes, "NNNOOO!!." screamed Claudia, "NNNOOOOO!!!!!"

Aika happened to look back and see Claudia freaking out, so she quickly let go of Vyse and made her way over to Claudia, ducking behind cover every now and then. Soon she was with Claudia behind sandbag cover.

Aika shook Claudia by the shoulder, "What's wrong." asked Aika, Claudia continuing to scream loudly.

"It's happeneing again!!." cried Claudia.

Aika wasn't sure what she was talking about, but she stuck her rifle over the sandbag cover and fired as fast as she could up at the rooftops where the enemy was. Once she fired all of her bullets she pulled her rifle back and loaded another clip.

"Come on Claudia, help us out here." said Aika, not in a mean tone, but still with some desperation in her voice.

Claudia shook her head as she continued to cover her ears. Alicia then made her way over to Aika and Claudia. "What's the problem here??." asked Alicia as she looked down at Claudia.

"I don't know ma'am, Claudia's in some kind of trouble though." said Aika, cocking her rifle bolt back.

Alicia then knelt down and shook Claudia by the shoulder, "Come on Claudia, get up and fight!." ordered Alicia, "We need everyone fighting if we want to survive this fight."

Claudia opened her tear filled eyes, "I can't!!, It's happening all over again, we're all going to die here!!." cried Claudia.

Aika looked over at Claudia as she was firing her rifle, "I think she's talking about what happened to her other squad." said Aika.

Alicia's patience was wearing thin, "Come on Claudia, stand up and fire your weapon!!." ordered Aika, "On your feet soldier, that's an order."

"I can't!, I Ca-" Alicia then drew her hand back and slapped Claudia across the face so hard that it left a large red hand imprint across her right cheek. Claudia stopped crying and looked up at Alicia.

"Then fight Claudia!!, Fight and don't let it happen again!!." said Alicia, "Now stand up and fire your weapon!."

Claudia nodded her head, grabbed her rifle, turned around and slowly raised it up to her shoulder. Aika looked over at her, "That's it Claudia, you can do it!!.", Claudia then looked down the sights of her rifle and slowly squeezed the trigger, her rifle then fired it's first round, followed by another and another as Claudia squeezed the trigger of her semi-automatic rifle, the last bullet exited the chamber and her gun clicked empty.

"Good work Claudia, keep it up!!." Praised Alicia as she knelt next to Claudia on her right side, firing her rifle as well.

Aika patted Claudia on the shoulder, "That's it Claudia, just like that!." said Aika, "Let em have it!!.", Claudia looked at Alicia and Aika, smiled and loaded another clip into her rifle and cocked the bolt back.

A short distance away, Lynn was running backwards as she fired her machine gun, trying to get behind some better cover, as the wooden bench she was hiding behind earlier was getting shot to pieces. But she got shot in the upper left arm and fell to the ground, before she was able to get to some cover.

Alicia saw this and lept from behind her cover and ran forward, grabbing Lynn by the right hand and dragging her off to the side.

Claudia saw this as well, "No...you won't take my squad from me this time!." she thought to herself, she left her cover and ran forward. Claudia then picked up Lynn's machine gun, and ran towards the machine gun nest, wildly firing her machine gun up at the enemy soldiers.

Lynn looked over at Alicia who was tending to her wounds, "Whoa...what did you say to her?." asked Lynn.

"Huh!?!." said Alicia, looking down at the street that Claudia was running down.

"Shoot that Gallian!!." screamed the enemy officer from atop the 3 story building, "Shoot her!!.", and the shock troopers and scouts took aim at Claudia and fired down at her.

Bullets whizzed past Claudia, some hitting her tool pouches, others grazing her uniform's sleeves and pant legs, but by some miracle, none of the bullets hit her.

Angry, the enemy officer pulled out a stick grenade, pulled the pin on it, stood up and was just about to heave it at Claudia, but her last few bullets found their mark and struck the enemy officer in the chest. The grenade then slipped from his hand as he fell back, the grenade landed inside the machine gun nest, and rolled along the roof and stopped next to all the other mortar and grenade rounds.

The next explosion resulting from the combined blast of all the mortar and grenade rounds was so powerful it completely destroyed the rooftop, the machine gun nest and all of the enemy soldiers with it. Claudia was too shocked to say anything, as she dropped to her knees and exhaled afew deep, relieved breaths.

Vyse saw this and stood up, holding his machine gun high as he let out a long and loud "YYYEEEHHHHAAAWWWW!!!", the other squad members cheered Claudia's bravery as well.

"Repairs completed sir!!." said Nadine, standing up and moving away from Welkin's tank.

"Good work, now let's take that bridge back!!." said Welkin, his tank then moved forward again, all of his soldiers following along side it.

Aika ran up to Claudia's side and helped her back up to her feet, "I'm so proud of you!!." said Aika, patting Claudia on the back. "Now come on, let's finish this operation up!."

Claudia nodded and followed Aika and the rest of the squad as they mopped up the remaining imperials and finally took control of the great Vasel Bridge.


	12. Chapter 12

**Greetings readers, I know this is more of a filler chapter, with not much action or anything, but I thought it was important to use it. Also, I do not think I will write a chapter for the Kloden Wildwood attack chapter. I've thought long and hard for a good way to write it, but couldn't think of anything. I might just skip ahead to the Barious Desert part, I've got a good story idea for it just nothing for the Kloden part. And thanks for the constant Reviews, it's encouraging to know that people are reading it and the feedback is great, keep it up :).**

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**Chapter 12- Squad 7's newest member**

Squad 7 was resting on the grass alongside the riverbank, the wounded members of Squad 7 were resting under the shade of a tree close by. Vyse was sitting with Aika on one side of him and Nadine on the other. All of them were watching the many tanks, supply trucks and soldiers from the Gallian Regular army make their way across the bridge and onto the side that Squad 7 had single handedly taken.

"And here they come yet again." said Aika, Nadine nodded.

"Yeah, they always seem to come after we've done all the hard work." said Nadine.

Vyse grinned, "Well then that means all the more glory for us."

Vyse, Aika and Nadine then stood up and made their way over to the tree where the wounded were. Among the wounded were Aisha, Noce, Ted and Juno. Aisha and Noce's wounds were not too serious, Ted was still unconscious after having been blown away by a nearby mortar blast. Juno's gunshot wound was the worst of the injuries.

"It's amazing that we've taken both sides of the Vasel bridge and haven't lost a squad mate yet." said Vyse, Aika punched him in the arm.

"Shh!." she said, moving her head to the left and after Vyse looked he saw Claudia who was helping Mina one of the medics administer first aid to Noce. Claudia gave a quick look in their direction, but continued helping Mina.

Fina, another one of the 3 medics walked up to Vyse, "Your bleeding." Fina pointed out and Vyse touched his left cheek and some blood was on his glove. "Here, let me help." and Fina moved her hands towards Vyse, but Vyse grabbed her hands with his own.

"Don't worry about me, it's just a scratch. In a few days it'll be nothing more then a scar. Besides, there are others who are far more injured then I am, so go and help them...please."

Fina nodded, reached down to her medical pouch and pulled out some white gauze bandages and handed them to Vyse before going back to the other members of Squad 7 under the tree. Aika took the bandages out of Vyse's hand and pressed one of the bandages against Vyse's cheek, wiping away the blood.

"And what's another scar to Vyse the adventurer?." asked Aika, "You've gotten so many of them from our previous adventures that you've seemed to have gotten used to them." placing her hand against Vyse's chest, upper left arm and lower back area. Where Vyse had received scars beforehand.

"Well this'll be the first visible one that everyone can see." said Vyse, grinning.

Ted then let out a soft cough and began to stir, "Ted's waking up!." called out Gina, the 3rd medic. Fina and Mina knelt down next to Gina and waited for Ted to open his eyes. Meanwhile, Marina, with her sniper rifle hanging over her right shoulder by it's strap, was also walking over from the riverbank towards them.

"Oh...where am I." asked Ted, opening one of his eyes, sunlight getting into them and he moved his hand up to block out the sunlight before feeling a hand grab ahold of his.

"Try not to move to much." said a soft, heavenly voice.

Ted looked to the left and saw a beautiful girl with blonde hair and 2 very long bangs with striking emerald green eyes looking down at him. And as he looked to his right he saw 2 more identical girls looking down at him. One of them opened a water canteen and poured some water into his open mouth.

"Whoa...did I die in battle?." asked Ted, "Is this heaven?."

One of the girls giggled and wiped a cool, wet rag across his forehead and down his cheeks.

"Ah...this is heaven." said Ted, chuckling happily.

He then felt someone lightly kick him in the side of the head, "Get up, stop wasting the medics time." said a rather more darker tone of voice.

And Ted looked up and was staring up at a black haired girl, with half of her face covered with the same dark hair. The sight of the 1 visible glaring eye sent a chill down his spine.

"Oh...Marina, your here to...guess this isn't heaven." said Ted, this caused everyone to burst into laughter, Marina then reached down and hauled Ted back onto his feet. But then she took a deep breath and straightened out his uniform for him with her left hand.

"If this is your way of asking me if I'm alright, then yeah, I'm fine...ears are ringing alitte." said Ted.

"Don't be silly, just get back to the squad and let the medics get back to work." ordered Marina.

Ted smiled, then stood up straight and saluted Marina, "Yes Ma'am." and he went to join the rest of squad 7 along the riverbank.

A jeep then began to pull up and once the members of squad 7 saw who was in the passengers seat they immediately stood up and got into formation and came to attention. Captain Varrot then got out of the passengers side, followed by Alicia and Welkin who were sitting in the backseats.

"Squad Salute!." shouted Largo and everyone brought their right hands up and gave a salute and kept it there.

Captain Varrot returned the salute as she walked up to the squad, "At ease." she said and everyone assumed the at ease position. Captain Varrot then looked down at a clipboard she was carrying. "I'm looking for Claudia, Claudia Mann." said Varrot.

Welkin looked around and spotted her by the tree, still with the medics. "Claudia!!." he called out and Claudia raised her head, wiped her hands on a rag and ran up to Welkin. Welkin then motioned to Captain Varrot with his right hand.

After seeing Captain Varrot, she quickly came to attention and gave a salute to Captain Varrot, "Ma'am, Claudia Mann reporting as ordered." she said, Varrot returned the salute with one of her own.

"At ease.", Claudia going to at ease position, "Report that I read from Lieutenant Gunther says that you went above and beyond in the last battle, preforming an act of great heroism and courage that saved the lives of many of Squad 7's soldiers." said Varrot.

"Ma'am??." asked Claudia.

Captain Varrot smiled, "You've been recommended for an Accommodation, and I agree." said Varrot, "But I don't think we need to head back to Randgriz for a whole formal ceremony, not when I happen to have this handy.", Captain Varrot reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a silver metal attached to a blue, red and white ribbon. She then attached it to Claudia's uniform on her left chest area.

"Congratulations Claudia Mann, you saved alot of lives this day." said Varrot, saluting Claudia Mann once again. "I have one more issue I'd like to discuss with you."

Claudia nodded, "Yes Ma'am?." said Claudia.

"I heard about what happened to your Squad, Squad 8." said Varrot, Claudia's eyes looked down at the ground and she nodded again. "You therefore have 2 options, option 1 is that you return with me to Randgriz city and once we've recruited new members for squad 8 you will join them. Option 2 is that you are free to continue serving in Squad 7 for the remainder of the war...if you so wish. What is your answer."

Claudia hesitated for a moment, she then looked at Vyse, Aika, then the rest of Squad 7. She then walked up to Lieutenant Gunther and came to attention in front of him. "Sir, with your permission, I would like to remain in Squad 7." she said.

Welkin smiled, "I had hoped you would say that.", he reached into his pocket and pulled out a Squad 7 uniform patch and handed it to Claudia. She took it, then shook Welkin's hand. "Welcome to Squad 7, your new unit and family."

Everyone in squad 7 then began to clap and cheer, warmly welcoming the newest addition to Squad 7.

Later on into the evening Claudia Mann was walking along the side of the riverbank, and soon after she came to a stop and looked out into the river. She took off the metal pinned to her chest and looked down at it.

"If only I was this strong when I lost my squad and friends..." thought Claudia, she then clenched her fist together and drew her hand back.

"Claudia!!." called out a voice and Claudia looked back and saw Vyse and Aika walking towards her.

"What are you doing?." asked Aika, reaching Claudia and standing next to her.

"Nothing I just..." started Claudia, her voice cracking.

"Just what?." asked Vyse

Claudia's eyes began to tear up, "I just don't think I deserve this medal. I mean, I wasn't even able to save my own squad."

"I disagree." said Vyse, "Today I witnessed the greatest act of courage I have ever seen. And this comes from a guy who has travelled the world and seen more then most people ever will."

"Yes, you were willing to give your life to protect your squad." said Aika, "Who knows, had you not done what you did, myself or Vyse might not be standing here."

"But still, if you really don't want that medal, then keep it and save it. You don't need to wear it all the time." said Vyse.

Claudia nodded and tucked the medal deep into her pants pocket, she then looked back at Vyse and Aika and smiled. "Thanks guys, I'd glad your in my new Squad now."

Vyse walked up to Claudia, smiled and rubbed his hand on top of her head. "Glad to have you with us as well." said Vyse, "Now come on, we're heading back to Randgriz for a much deserved Respite."

Once they were back in the city, everyone from Squad 7 piled into 2 troop transport trucks and began the drive back to Randgriz. On the way, A large convoy of Regular army troop transports were driving towards them and Vyse, Aika, Nadine and Claudia recognized the same soldiers who had mocked them earlier.

But this time, once the two trucks were just about to pass eachother the Regular Army soldiers did not shout taunts or anything. But when the eyes of the Regular Army Soldiers and the Militia Soldiers met, the Regulars gave a nod of respect to the Militia soldiers this time.

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**The story so far: you like it, don't like it. Lol, I'm usually told I move at a snails pace when I write, because I like alot of detail in my stories. Should I keep the stories shorter or longer from now on?.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13- A score to settle**

Vyse, Aika and Nadine were walking through the streets of Randgriz city, in plain dress uniform, not dressed in the "Battle gear" state. Nadine was giving Vyse and Aika the grand tour of the city they never got when they first arrived in Randgriz city. Their squad was on recuperative respite after having single handedly taken both banks of Vasel city and the great Vasel bridge.

"I know this great bakery just up the street." said Nadine, pointed to a small building just a few blocks away. "They make the best banana bread you've ever tasted."

"Sounds good." said Vyse, "All of this walking around is making me hungry!."

"Absolutely, it'll be nice to eat in the great city of Randgriz for once." said Aika.

And after a short walk they had arrived at the said Bakery, but they saw something they weren't expecting, someone rather.

"Well if it ain't the dark-hair and her foreign riff-raff comrades." said Rosie, leaning back in her chair at a small table just outside the bakery.

"Tsk, anyone who loves Darcsens ain't no better then them." said a grey hair, blue eyed Militia Soldier, Aika having studied the different squad symbols guessed that he must be a sniper, judging by the cross-haired symbol on his back.

"No kidding Cezary, first Darcsens get to serve in the militia, then foreigners...what'll they think of next." said Largo, lighting up a cigarette.

Nadine turned to her friends, "Listen guys, let's just go somewhere else, I know alot of other places we can eat." said Nadine, turning around and starting to walk away from the Bakery.

"Haha, cowardly Darscen scum." said Cezary, crumbling up his large paper plate and throwing it at Nadine, it hit her in the back of the head and bounced off.

"That's it!!." said Vyse, turning around and stomping towards Cezary. Cezary got up and began to back away, hands up in the air.

"Hey calm down , it was just a paper plate. It's not like it hurt her or anything." said Cezary, Largo and Rosie got up as well and stood on either side of Cezary.

"No but it was totally uncalled for!!." said Vyse, taking off his jacket and throwing it to the ground. Largo stepped infront of Vyse.

"Hehe, and just what are you going to do about it, Private!!." said Largo.

Rosie laughed and crossed her arms, "You wanna make something of it?." said Rosie, uncrossing her arms and cracking her knuckles loudly.

Aika and Nadine both grabbed one of Vyse's arms and pulled him back.

"No sir, not with an officer." said Nadine.

Vyse shook free from Aika and Nadine's grip, "Yeah, we've worked hard to get into Squad 7 and we don't intend on getting kicked out for brawling with officers from the same squad.", Vyse then picked up his jacket and put it back on, leaving the buttons and zippers unfastened.

Rosie then looked over at Largo and winked at him, Largo responded with a nod. He then reached into his front pocket and took out a pen and notepad, quickly writing something down before tearing the page off and handing it to Vyse.

"We're having a little get together tonight, all the squads off duty will be there. We think it'd be an honor to have you there." said Largo, chuckling before tossing some Ducats on the table nearby and leaving with Rosie and Cezary following close behind.

Vyse was confused, "What do they mean by that?." he asked, Aika shook her head and Nadine shrugged.

"What did he give you?." asked Nadine, looking down at the piece of paper in his hand.

Vyse turned the page over and looked at it, on it was an street address with directions to the destination and a time written down, the time being 8:00 P.M. "Looks like directions to where ever he wants us to go." said Vyse.

Aika became worried, "I don't know if we should go, doesn't feel right." said Aika, Nadine nodded in agreement.

"I say we do it, alittle adventure is in good order." said Vyse, grinning ear to ear. Aika placed her hand against her forehead and sighed.

Nadine leaned towards Aika, "Does he always get this excited for an adventure." whispered Nadine. Aika slowly turned her head and looked at Nadine.

"You have NO idea..." she said.

Later into the evening Vyse, Aika and Nadine were dropped off at the given address by a taxi cab. Nadine paid for the cab and everyone climbed out, still in their plain dress uniforms.

They were in front of a very large squad warehouse, a lone male soldier was standing by the two large sliding doors leading into the warehouse, smoking a cigarette and watching Vyse, Aika and Nadine walking towards him.

"Ya here for the dance?." he asked, laughing loudly.

Vyse looked at Aika, "Yeah, something like that." said Vyse, the soldier nodded and grabbed the handle of one of the doors and slide it open for them. But what they saw was no "dance."

There were at least 100 other soldiers, clapping, whistling and cheering loudly as they were gathered around a large square boxing ring. Inside the ring were two male militia soldiers having a fast and heated match, both already had cuts, bruises and swelled, black eyes. Vyse slowly walked towards the ring, Aika and Nadine following beside him, he was fixated on the fight.

And as he looked around, older soldiers were drinking alcohol, smoking and placing bets on who would win. Younger soldiers were cheering loudly, enjoying every minute of the match.

"There you are~!!." said a large, bellowing voice and Largo approached the group, Rosie in tow beside him. "So glad you could make it.", he then placed his arm around Vyse and began to lead him around the ring.

"Feel free to get yourself a drink, bet on a match or take part in one." said Largo.

Vyse grabbed Largos arm and threw it off him, "What are you talking about??." asked Vyse.

Largo stood infront of Vyse and looked down at him, "You seemed ready to throw a punch back at the Bakery earlier today. But that would of resulted in a court marshal. But here...anything goes." said Largo, "As soon as you step through that door everything stays there. Doesn't matter if your an officer, a private, regular, militia soldier. You can challenge anyone to a fight. So for tonight, you and I are on equals."

Vyse scoffed, "Tsk, you and I will never be equal." said Vyse, Largo laughed loudly and gave Vyse a hard shove and Vyse fell back and landed on top of two female and one male militia soldier behind him, all four of them falling to the ground.

"Aww, did that hurt?." said Largo, Aika rushed forward and pushed Largo back.

"Leave him alone!!." she screech, but was then slapped hard by Rosie. Aika was shocked, held her hand to her cheek and looked at Rosie, anger building up inside of her.

"You wanna a piece of me, just say the word. Challenge me to a fight." said Rosie, Aika held her hand to the side of her face, but didn't say anything.

"Tsk, we'll I'm here for the rest of the night. So feel free to challenge me, I'll never refuse." said Rosie, turning around and walking through the crowd, Largo following beside her.

Aika turned her attention to Vyse, Nadine was already helping him to his feet. "I'm alright, I'm alright..." said Vyse, slowly getting up with the help of Nadine.

Aika and Nadine helped Vyse find an empty seat and sat him down, Aika rolled up Vyse's sleeve and saw a large dark bruise from where he hit the paved floor.

"Oh no Vyse..." said Aika, looking down at the nasty bruise.

"Oh, he is gonna get it once my elbow stops hurting." said Vyse.

"Vyse!!, you aren't seriously gonna take part in this barbaric act are you??." asked Aika, Vyse grinned.

"Ain't no way I'm backing down from a challenge given to me." said Vyse.

Nadine looked behind her and saw a bar set up, with ice buckets on top of the bar. "Wait here, I'll get you an ice pack." said Nadine, getting up and rushing to the bar.

10 minutes had passed, then 15 and Nadine hadn't returned yet, the current match was over and the loser was being helped out of the ring, half unconscious. The referee then stepped into the center of the ring, Vyse and Aika looked up and recognized Drill Instructor Rodriguez.

"Next two competitors enter the ring!!." he announced, no one moved.

Vyse shook out his arm, his elbow feeling better already as adrenaline pumped through his veins. "Oh yeah, I'm ready!." said Vyse, getting up and taking two steps towards the ring, but something made him stop dead in his tracks and gasp in surprise.

Entering the ring was Nadine, she was wearing her militia uniform pants and a black tank top, the whole place came to a dead silence, except for afew gasps as they stared up at this Darcsen girl walking around the ring. She then pointed to Rosie who was in the middle of taking a sip from her drink.

"Rosie!!, Get your racist, Darcsen hating ass up here, I challenge you!!." said Nadine, this caused the entire place to go into an uproar. Rosie looked at Largo in complete and utter surprise.

People began to pass money to people taking bets.

"Put all my money on Rosie!!." said a older male soldier

"Put mine on the Dark-hair!!." said a younger male soldier

"Rosie's gonna murder that Darcsen!!." shouted another female soldier

"I'm placing my bet on that Darcsen girl." said another

Money was passed around, people were gathering around the ring.

"What does she think she's doing!!." asked Aika, Vyse shook his head.

"I have NO idea..." said Vyse, he and Aika then got a ring side seat opposite of where Nadine's corner was.

Rosie then entered the ring and walked up to Nadine, "You sure you wanna do this??." Nadine nodded her head, "Fine whatever, your funeral Dark-hair."

Rosie then headed to her side of the ring, removing her uniform jacket, now in her white undershirt. Cezary was helping Rosie put hand wraps on her hands, then helped do up her boxing gloves, which were as red as her own hair. Meanwhile a female soldier was helping Nadine put on hand wraps and slipped black boxing gloves on both of Nadine's hands.

Vyse moved through the crowd until he was beside Nadine as she was sitting down getting her boxing gloves put on. "Nadine!, what do you think your doing!!." asked Vyse, Nadine looked over at Vyse as the female soldier slid a plastic mouth guard into her mouth, which she clamped her teeth down on and moved her cheeks back and forth, getting the guard into place.

"I'll tell ra rater." said Nadine, standing up and tapping her gloves together twice before moving towards the center of the ring, Rosie doing the same thing.

Both girls then began to circle each other in the middle of the ring, sizing each other up as they hopped from one foot to the other, gloves up to their faces. Rosie looked at Nadine and laughed.

Nadine was on the skinnier, more frail looking side, she was sure that with just 1 punch she'd break her in two. She dropped her gloves, turned to the crowd and gave them a wide armed shrug. Everyone cheered all at once as the starting bell rang, Rosie turned around and just caught a glimpse of a black glove flying towards her before it smashed into her face, sending her to the ground.

Everyone including Vyse gasped in surprise at just how powerful the first punch thrown was. Rosie's legs had actually flown out from under her as she hit the ground hard.

Even Rosie herself couldn't believe it as she blink away some stars that were dancing in front of her eyes. Nadine then stood above Rosie and looked down at her, skillfully moving the mouth guard away with her tongue.

"Get up Rosie, the match has just started." said Nadine, moving the mouth guard back into place and biting down on it.

Rosie shook her head hard and got up and glared at Nadine, she then placed her gloves up in front of her face in guard position. "Lucky Shot Dark-hair, don't think it'll happen twice." said Rosie.

Rosie then charged towards Nadine and threw few quick jabs at her, but Nadine blocked all of them with her gloves. Rosie then swung a hard left hook, but Nadine ducked under it and delivered a hard shot to Rosie's mid-section. The blow knocked all of the air out of Rosie as she fell to her knees and began to cough loudly, gasping for air.

"My god..." said Aika softly, staring up at Nadine who was circling Rosie waiting for her to recover.

"Isn't this what you want?." asked Nadine, standing behind Rosie, "A chance to beat up a Darcsen."

Rosie laughing, coughing as she did and as quick as lightning delivered a punch to Nadine's stomach so hard her feet lifted an inch or two off the ground, she followed that with two right jabs to Nadine's exposed face and Nadine was knocked to the ground. She was about to attack her but Instructor Rodriguez stopped her and moved her back.

He then began counting as Nadine laid on the ground, holding her stomach and coughing, "1...2...3...4..."

Nadine stood up and held her gloves up and slide from side to side, while moving towards Rosie. The next few moves were a blinding fast series of punches, jabs, blocks, ducks and painful looking blows to the face, stomach and ribs.

Soon the bell rang, signalling the end of the 1st round as Rosie and Nadine returned to their corners. Vyse was still at Nadine's corner when she arrived, he now assisted in helping the other female soldier see to Nadine.

"Nadine, your amazing...I didn't know you knew how to box." said Vyse, wiping her sweaty face with a white towel, then spraying some cold water into her mouth from a water bottle.

Nadine swished the water from side to side and spit it out, "Punching a punching bag is a great way to relieve stress. I also said that I don't like to fight, I never said that I didn't know how." said Nadine, taking some deep breaths, trying to catch her breath.

"I bet it feels great to get back at Rosie, after all the times she's mocked you." said Vyse, re-tightening Nadine's gloves for her.

Nadine smiled, but shook her head. "I'm not fighting her because of that." said Nadine, standing up once again, Vyse moved to the side of the ring and ducked under the ropes, leaving the ring.

"Your not...then why." asked Vyse.

Nadine looked over at Vyse and smiled, "For you Vyse, I'm fighting for you." said Nadine, putting the mouth guard back into her mouth and biting down on it before moving back to the center of the ring, now standing in front of Rosie as the 2nd bell rang and the fight resumed.

But this time Rosie came out swinging like a woman possessed, delivering blow after blow to Nadine's face, stomach and mid-section. But Nadine was able to hold her own as she too delivered afew good punches and left and right hooks to Rosie. Actually knocking her down to a 5 count.

The 2nd round then ended as both girls headed back to their corners, Rosie had a few bruised bumps on her face. Nadine has a small gash on her right eyebrow, and both girls were sweating profusely.

Vyse did the same routine in helping Nadine recover, "Nadine...you don't have to do this." said Vyse.

Nadine smiled, "You've stood up for me and defended me so many times before. And now it's my turn to defend you. I won't let anyone hurt my friends, Imperial, Gallian, no body," said Nadine.

Vyse nodded and retied Nadine's gloves for her, and slide her mouth guard into place. Nadine got up and moved to the center of the ring once more and the third bell rang, the vicious fight continued.

Aika ran up to where Vyse was, "Vyse, this has gone too far, she's going to get herself killed." warned Aika.

But Vyse shook his head, "No, she's going to be alright. She told me that she's fighting for me and you."

"What!!." said Aika, she then grabbed Vyse by the arm and led him through the crowd towards the exit. Nadine took notice and looked at Vyse and Aika's retreating figures, dropping her hands to her side and totally exposing herself. Rosie took advantage of that moment and charged in, repeatedly punching Nadine in the stomach, ribs and midsection with quick right and left punches.

Meanwhile outside the warehouse Aika was speaking to Vyse, "Vyse, you can't let her do this!!." said Aika, shaking Vyse by the shoulders.

"Why not, she's our friend." said Vyse, "Besides Rosie has been very cruel to her, I think she's getting what she deserves."

"She's going to get herself killed, Rosie's getting too fired up. You have to stop the match." said Aika.

Back inside Nadine was getting totally pummeled by the enraged Rosie. But now that her reason for fighting was gone Nadine made no attempt to defend herself, taking the blows one after the other. Sweat and Blood were flying from Nadine's bloodied face, head and hair with each punch.

Back outside Vyse and Aika could hear that the cheering crowd had started to become silent, so they both rushed back inside to see what was going on. And what they saw was no longer a fight, but a beat down as Rosie continued to punch the defenseless Nadine over and over again. Now everyone had gone totally silent, some were looking at each other in confusion, others were shaking their heads slowly from side to side, no longer enjoying the fight before them.

Vyse gasped in shock then ran towards the ring, jumped up onto the ring and quickly threw a white towel into the ring, but not before Rosie delivered a right hook so hard it knocked Nadine hard to the right as she hit the ring floor and laid there, her bloody mouth guard slipping from her mouth and onto the ring floor.

Vyse and Aika entered the ring and knelt down beside Nadine, checking to see that she was ok. And at the same time they looked up and over at Rosie, and it seemed even Rosie was shocked at the amount of damaged she had given the Darcsen girl.

No body in the entire warehouse said a word as they looked up at the ring, some began to shuffle towards the exits, others lowered their heads and shook them from side to side. But Nadine started to come to as she slowly opened her eyes, a dazed look on her face.

"Are you alright?." asked Vyse, Nadine nodded.

"Yeah...help me up." said Nadine softly, and Vyse grabbed one of Nadine's arms and attempted to help her up, but much to his surprise Rosie moved forward and grabbed Nadine's other arm and helped her to her feet. Largo had also entered the ring, a look of worry on his face.

Nadine, Vyse and Aika stood on one side of the ring, while Rosie and Largo stood opposite of them. Nadine then placed her arm on top of Rosie's shoulder.

"Now remember this, I love my friends dearly and I won't let anyone hurt them." said Nadine, "I'd do the same for any of my friends or squad mates, even you Rosie...Largo. I'd give my life if it meant saving you or anyone I cared about on the battlefield."

Rosie looked down at the ground and scoffed, "heh...getting all mushy on me dark-hair." said Rosie "However, when you fight someone, they aren't your friend.", Rosie then ducked under the ropes and exited the ring.

Largo sighed loudly and moved forward, "Good fight Dark-hair, and that kind of loyalty is just what we need to win this war." he then offered Nadine his hand and she shook it.

"The name's Nadine." said Nadine, shaking his hand with one hand, while clutching her stomach with the other. Largo smiled and nodded his head.

"Nadine...I'll remember the Name." said Largo, he then turned to Vyse and Aika. He didn't say anything, but he smiled and gave a nod of respect to the both of them.

Vyse took Nadine's boxing gloves off of her hands and placed one of her arms over his shoulder, while Aika placed her hands on Nadine's shoulders and together they led her out of the ring, out of the warehouse and back to base.


	14. Chapter 14

**_Hello readers, I know this is the shortest chapter I have ever written, but like i said before. I thought and thought but could not think of a good story to go with Vyse and Aika in Kloden, got a great one for Barious Desert, so this is just a tiny filler of sorts._**

**Chapter 14- Sit out**

Vyse and Aika were getting ready to move out on their next operation, which would be the Kloden Wildwoods to capture a supply base. Once Vyse was in uniform he waited on Aika to finish getting ready herself, as he was waiting he looked over at Nadine. She was in pretty rough shape from last night's match, she was moving very slowly, with a look of pain on her face as she did up her uniform jacket. Concerned, Vyse made his way over to her.

"Yo, Nadine, you feeling ok?." asked Vyse, placing his hand on her shoulder.

Nadine winced in pain as she finished doing up her jacket, "Yeah, I should be alright, I've got alot of responsibility as an engineer, so I have to be ready to head out the same as everyone else."

Vyse then looked down at all of the equipment and gear that she would have to carry that day. Nadine then picked up her backpack, the heaviest and bulkiest piece of equipment and put it on, but she was not able to do up the straps without pain surging through her midsection and she dropped it to the floor.

"I think Rosie might of bruised afew of my ribs." said Nadine, holding her side.

Just then Lieutenant Welkin entered the barracks, Largo following beside him, but Rosie was no where to be found.

"Morning guys." said Welkin cheerfully, "Ready to move out."

Vyse stood up straight and saluted Welkin, "Yes sir!, we're ready to move when you are...except..." said Vyse, looking over at Nadine. Welkin turned his head and saw Nadine as she tried to stand at attention, but had a look of pain on her face.

"Oh dear...what happened Nadine?." asked Welkin.

Nadine shook her head, "Nothing, just had an accident, it's nothing sir. I'll be ready it a short while." said Nadine, attempting to give Welkin a Salute.

"Sir...I know this may sound crazy, but would it be possible for Nadine to sit out this upcoming operation." asked Vyse, Aika looked over at him wide-eyed.

Welkin brought his hand up to his chin and pondered for a while, "Alright, that solves one problem I had this morning." said Welkin, "One of my good friends, Juno Coren has to sit out this operation while she recuperates from our last engagement at Vasel. Alicia's friend Noce was also injured, so I'm going to assign each of them a personal helper who will see to their needs."

Welkin then looked at Aika, "Aika Thompson, I'd like you to see to Noce.", Aika nodded

Welkin looked at Vyse, "And Vyse, I entrust my good friend Juno Coren's health to you. See to it that if she requires anything, you be there to fulfill her wishes."

"Roger that sir, you can count on me." said Vyse, standing up and saluting Welkin once more, Aika doing the same.

Welkin then turned to Nadine, "Nadine, we already have 3 Engineers on our squad now that Claudia Mann has joined us. So I ordered you to remain here and assist Vyse and Aika in taking care of Mine and Alicia's best friends. You know Randgriz City very well, so be here to show Vyse and Aika around."

"Yes sir, I won't let you down." said Nadine, giving a proper salute this time.

"And don't worry about a thing, we'll assign temporary replacement troops to fill in your positions." said Welkin to Vyse and Aika.

Later that day Vyse was at the militia hospital building, sitting at Juno's bedside. She however was asleep, so Vyse preoccupied himself by reading a book about Gallian history. He turned the page and saw a title page for the next chapter of the book, it read "The Darcsen Calamity.".

Vyse closed his eyes and remembered that conversation Rosie had with Isara, an image of Nadine flashed infront of his eyes, he remembered the sad, hurt look on her face when the incident was mentioned. And for a moment, he was unsure whether or not he wanted to know. But a soft moan made him come back to reality. He looked and saw Juno Coren waking up.

Vyse slammed the book shut and set it on a nearby table, he looked at Juno and smiled. "Hello miss Coren, can I get you anything?." asked Vyse.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15- True meaning of Friendship**

3 weeks had passed since Vyse and Aika's last deployment at Vasel Bridge, they had sat out the previous operation to the Kloden Wildwoods to take care of two very close, personal friends of Welkin Gunther and Sgt. Alicia and we're on pins and needles to get back into the fight.

Vyse was in the mess hall with Aika, eating lunch on the ledge of a nearby window, looking out at the vast base, with soldiers doing drills, marching or just walking around. And as Aika ate a fork full of salad, she happened to look at the doors leading into the mess hall and spotted Isara and Nadine entering the mess hall together...however Isara was carrying some kind of pig or piglette in her arms.

"Hey Vyse, get a load of what Isara's carrying." said Aika, pointing her fork in the direction of Isara and Nadine.

Vyse looked over and nearly choked on what he was eating, "No way...that pig has wings!!." said vyse, getting up and walking over to Isara.

"I wonder if it can fly...if it can you own me for all the times you said "I'll do it...when pigs fly!!." said Aika, giving Vyse a playful shove as they approached Isara and Nadine.

"Whatcha got there?." asked Vyse, giving the piglette a pat on the head.

"We picked this little guy up during our trip to Kloden. His name is Hans, brilliantly named by Alicia." said Isara, "The operation went smoothly, we took the supply base and suffered no casualties."

"Hans eh?." said Aika, giving Hans a small piece of lettuce which he devoured quickly and oinked in pleasure. "Sure is cute...and I see that he has wings. Does that mean that he can fly?."

Isara chuckled, "No, I do not believe so. His wings are far too small compared to his body size for him to be able to take flight. You'll have to ask my brother, he's the one who knows everything about everything related to nature." said Isara.

Largo and Rosie then entered the mess hall, "All members of Squad 7 are to report to the barracks for our next mission briefing, we're heading to the Barious Desert!!."

"Barious..." said Isara, looking over at Nadine, both had a look of worry mixed with dread.

Once all members of squad 7 were assembled inside of Squad 7's barracks Welkin began his mission debriefing.

"Alright everything, we've been assigned to scout out some imperial activity in the region." said Welkin, looking up from the clipboard he was reading from.

"So we're gonna travel all the way to the desert just for that..." said Cherry.

"Cherry, mind your tongue." said Rosie, Cherry bowed and apologized.

"Be ready for desert conditions." said Welkin, "Extra canteens for everyone, and if you must drink while we are there, do so sparingly. Your water has to last you."

There was a knock on the door and two other militia soldiers entered the barracks, one male and one female.

"We have a couple of experts who live in the desert areas, and they will be accompanying us on our next mission." said Welkin, "Allow me to introduce Freesia York and Cezary Regard.", both of them bowed.

"_Cezary_..." thought Vyse, glaring at him, remembering how rude he was to Nadine.

Cezary noticed and also saw Nadine looking at him, he just grinned and looked away.

And after some more mission explanation and advice from Freesia and Cezary about surviving out in the desert, the squad retired to bed, getting ready to move out at first light.

A day and a half later, Squad 7 had arrived at the Barious desert. The scorching heat was near unbearable for some, others like Freesia and Cezary were right at home.

Freesia was walking with the other scouts, not a bead of sweat anywhere on her face. "Ahh...scorching sands bring it on!!." she said.

Aika looked over at her, sweating dripping off her face, "Wish I was as comfortable out here." said Aika, wiping the sweat from her forehead with the sleeve of her uniform.

Welkin was looking at the surrounding area with his binoculars, after having found a suitable place for his snipers he called them forward.

"Marina, I need you to set up where ever you feel you'd best be able to cover our position from the East." said Welkin, pointing to the east where some high cliffs were, a good kilometer or so away. Marina just nodded and began to set out.

Ted ran up to her, "Hey, would you like some company?." asked Ted, Marina just looked over at him and shook her head.

"It's easier alone." said Marina softly, continuing on, while Ted stopped in his tracks.

"Can't blame a guy for trying." said Ted, going back to the other scouts.

Welkin then looked at Cezary, "I want you to cover us from the west, head out and find a place to set up." said Welkin.

Cezary looked around, "What you mean go out there by myself?." asked Cezary.

"Is there a problem with that??." asked Welkin.

"Well sir, just that I only have my bolt action sniper rifle and my sidearm pistol. What happens if I run into Imperials along the way?." asked Cezary.

Welkin nodded and looked around, and talking together along the right tread of his tank were Vyse and Nadine.

"Vyse, Nadine, I'd like the two of you to accompany Cezary while he finds a place to set up. He'll be in charge, so follow his orders while your with him." said Welkin, turning back to Cezary "Vyse is a shock trooper and Nadine is an Engineer, so you'll have plenty of cover and spare ammo."

"You want me...to go with them??" asked Cezary.

"You wanted company, so there you go. Now go set up, that's an order!." said Welkin, slipping back inside of his tank, the Edelweiss.

Cezary sighed, "Oh well, an orders an order." said Cezary, flinging his sniper rifle over his right shoulder. He then turned to Vyse and Nadine, "Let's just get this over with."

"Tsk...of all the people I get assigned to guard, who does it have to be him." whispered Vyse, Nadine nodding in agreement.

"But like he said, an order is an order. I'll obey it, even if it means accompanying a Darcsen hater like him." said Nadine. The trio then set off into the desert, Cezary walking slightly ahead of Vyse and Nadine.

He too had no trouble with the heat, Vyse on the other hand was sweating bullets, Nadine had some sweat on her face as well.

They then came upon some ancient looking ruins, of buildings that must of been hundreds, maybe even thousands of years old. Also there were alot of rocks of varying sizes with strange looking circular holes in them. There were some pretty good places a sniper could set up at.

Cezary stopped and took out his binoculars and looked up at the surrounding area, trying to find some high ground to set up on. Nadine began to walk past him, but he put his arm up and stopped her.

"Stay down wind of me Dark-Hair, don't want your stink flying in my face." said Cezary, putting his binoculars back onto his belt.

"Alright pal, that's it. What the hell is your problem anyway?. why do people like you and Rosie hate Darcsens so much?." asked Vyse, Nadine grabbed ahold of his arm.

"Vyse, please don't worry about it." said Nadine.

"Ha...you really don't know what these people did do you?." asked Cezary, "LOOK AROUND!!, they caused all of this. Behold the Darcsen Calamity!!", holding his arms out to his side and spinning around twice.

"You don't know that, no body does. It's all a myth!!." said Nadine.

"Oh a Myth huh...then what do you call all of this then, the true is right in front of you Dark-hair." said Cezary.

A single gunshot echoed through the area and Nadine fell to the ground, holding her right leg and crying out in pain. Vyse and Cezary brought their guns up and began to search the area.

"Enemy sniper...I knew this was a bad idea to come here...damn you Welkin." said Cezary, he looked over at Vyse who was tending to Nadine. "We've got to regroup, we're in enemy territory here!!."

"Get over here and help me carry Nadine!." shouted Vyse, setting down his machine gun and taking out some medical gauze and placing it against Nadines injured leg, securing it in place with some white wrapping.

"Yeah right, like I'm gonna help some Dark-hair." said Cezary, slowly backing up.

Vyse looked up at him in surprise, "Even if she is a Darcsen, she's a Militia soldier just like you and I, how could you leave one of your own!!." screamed Vyse, a bullet whizzing past him and striking a nearby rock, but he was too enraged to even notice. Cezary on the other hand, quickly brought his rifle up to his shoulder and fired a round off, killing the enemy sniper.

"Heh, Yeah right, she could be the damn Militia Commander, but she'd still be nothing more then a stinking Dark-hair to me." said Cezary, "I sure as hell ain't sticking around here when more Imperials come. So just leave that Dark-hair here and escort me back to the rest of the squad. That's an order Private."

Vyse didn't move an inch, "Go to hell sir, I ain't follow any orders from someone like you!!." said Vyse.

Cezary then began to look up at the sky, as if he knew something Vyse or Nadine didn't. "Sandstorm's coming..." he said, "Last chance, if you don't come now, I won't be held responsible for what happens to you."

Vyse shook his head, "Unlike you, I will leave NO ONE behind. So go ahead, run away, I won't leave a fellow soldier ever!!." said Vyse, bending down, picking Nadine up and carrying her on his shoulders, all of her engineers gear still on her back.

"Have it your way, I don't know which will kill you faster, the Imperials or the coming sandstorm." said Cezary, turning around and running away full speed.

Vyse struggled hard to carry Nadine back to the squad, grunting with effort.

"Vyse, don't worry about me. Just get yourself back!." said Nadine.

Vyse chuckled, "If I go, you go. Even if it means I have to carry you back every step of the way." said Vyse.

"Vyse..." said Nadine softly, she then looked behind her and gasped. Vyse turned around also.

coming towards them was an enormous wall of dust, dirt and sand, seemingly stretching from horizon to horizon. Vyse picked up the pace and continued to carry Nadine on his shoulders. But the storm was getting closer with each passing second, soon it was nearly right on top of them.

"Gah give us a break!!." said Vyse, he then looked to his left and saw a very old stone house that still had all 4 walls and a partial roof over it, so he ducked inside with Nadine just as the storm began to pass over them.

Meanwhile, Squad 7 was heavily engaged in combat against Imperial forces. Aika was hiding in a trench, firing at some Imperials taking cover in another trench not far from them. And as Aika ducked down and loaded another ammo clip into her rifle, she closed her eyes.

"Vyse...where ever you are, I hope your safe." prayed Aika, before standing up and firing at the enemy soldiers.

Welkin's tank fired off a shell at a nearby enemy tank, blowing it sky high before he opened the hatch and looked out to the west, seeing the approaching sandstorm.

Welkin pressed the talk button on his radio, "Listen up 7's, there's a sandstorm approaching, so be prepared to take cover!!." shouted Welkin.

Both sides then stopped firing as everyone either ducked into their trenches, behind rocks or where ever they could find a place to take cover.

Back out west, Vyse was continuing to try and get ahold of Welkin and the rest of the squad. "This is Vyse Inglbard to Squad 7, is there anyone out there. Can anyone hear me?." said Vyse, however his radio just gave off nothing but loud static.

"This storm seems to be interfering with our equipment." said Nadine, Vyse dropped his radio to the ground and sighed.

"Think your right, I can't get ahold of anyone." said Vyse, he then knelt down in front of Nadine, moving the gauze aside and assessing her wound, luckly the bullet had only grazed her leg, not struck it directly.

"I'm sorry Vyse, I didn't mean to mess things up. I shouldn't of been arguing so loudly with Cezary." said Nadine.

Vyse applied a fresh gauze bandage to Nadine's leg, "Don't worry about it, I didn't want to stick around that guy much longer anyways." said Vyse, he then sat down next to Nadine.

The storm was still raging outside, the dust and sand so thick it turned day into night. So Vyse took out his flashlight and turned it on.

"Vyse...thank you." said Nadine, smiling at Vyse.

"Hmm..what for?." asked Vyse, smiling back at Nadine.

"There's not many people in Squad 7 or anywhere in Europa who like Darcsens, if it were anyone else who had come with us, they'd most likely of left me behind." said Nadine.

"Hey no problem, your my friend. I'd never leave a friend behind for anything." said Vyse, grinning ear to ear.

"Vyse...I think I'm ready to tell you." said Nadine.

"Tell me about what?." asked Vyse, a confused look on his face.

"About the Darcsen Calamity, I tried to tell you once before." said Nadine.

Vyse just held up his hand, "Like I said, I don't need to know. I know enough to know that you are my friend and that I cherish our friendship, whatever happened before I don't care."

Nadine shook her head, "No...I want you to know. I think it's important that you know what your defending every time you stick up for me." said Nadine.

Vyse sighed, "Alright, I'll listen." said Vyse.

"Long ago, nearly 2000 years ago the Darcsens were the rulers of the land. But we were described as being cruel, greedy rulers who enslaved all the other races in the land. we've also been mining and working with Ragnite longer then anyone else in Europa.

This place that we're in right now used to be a vast city, probably as grand as Randgriz city is today. They say that we, the Darcsens caused some sort of massive explosion through dark magic using ragnite. It destroyed the city, scorched the earth and created the Barious desert that we now know today.

But then the Valkyria arrived, a powerful race from the north. It is said that they fought against the Darcsens, defeated them and freed the land from Darcsen Rule. And ever since then people worship the Valkyrur and despise us Darcsens for what we did to the land and the people.

That hatred the people feel for Darcsens has not let up for nearly 2000 years. As you can see through Cezary and Rosie's feelings towards us. Darcsens are not allowed many rights the rest of Gallia and Europa are, we've even been stripped of the right to have last names. Nadine is my full name, nothing else." explained Nadine, some tears forming in her eyes.

Vyse nodded, "And do you believe that, what they tell you about your ancestors?." asked Vyse, wrapping his arm Nadine's shoulders and pulling her close to him.

"Sometimes, but other times I do not think that it would of been possible for Darcsens to cause such devastation to their own homeland." said Nadine, "We don't even have weapons powerful enough to cause any near this much damage today."

"But still that doesn't change the way I feel about you one bit." said Vyse, Nadine looked up at him in surprise.

"It doesn't??." asked Nadine.

Vyse shook his head, "Even if by some chance it were true, YOU are not the Darcsens who did this." said Vyse, "You are Nadine, Militia soldier of Gallia and a good friend of mine."

Nadine smiled brightly, tears falling from her eyes as she buried her head in Vyses chest and hugged him tightly. "Thank you so much Vyse, I wish there were more of your kind in this world. If there were we might not even be at war and Darcsen prejudice would no longer exist." said Nadine.

Vyse hugged her back, "I know, it's something to dream of though. Man's got to have a dream." said Vyse.

Nadine then yawned, the heat of the desert was making her tired. Vyse took notice, "It's alright, you can sleep if you want. I don't think this storm is going to let up anytime soon." said Vyse.

"Thanks Vyse." said Nadine, she then rested her head against his chest, his soft, steady heartbeat helping her slip into a peaceful sleep. Vyse softly stroking her Dark Blue hair was comforting as well. Eventually Nadine's quiet, steady breathing as she slept caused Vyse's own eyes to become heavy as he listened, he then laid his head back against the wall behind him, closed his eyes and fell asleep as well.

The storm continued to go on, leaving Vyse and Nadine with no other option but to remain where they were, waiting for it to let up.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16- Mercy**

Vyse was having a dream, one he had had since he was a kid. He was at the helm of a ship, not just any ship. An Airship, that was flying high above the clouds, floating through the air. But then he felt someone shaking him and slowly the dream started to fade, until he opened his eyes again and found himself back in the Barious desert, it was still alittle dark out and the storm was still going on. He also found that it was Nadine who was shaking him by the shoulder.

"Vyse, Vyse." she whipsered softly, darting her head back every now and then, "I hear someone."

Vyse looked around and indeed, he heard someone talking to another person.

"We've got to get out of this storm!." said a voice, "Hang in there Comrade, I'll get us out of this."

"Don't bother...just leave me, go friend." said a weaker voice.

"Come on, pull it together. Just hang in there alittle longer."

Vyse and Nadine both drew their guns and pointed them towards the small doorway they came through earlier. Just then two Imperial soldiers appeared through the doorway. Both sides gasped in surprise once they saw each other. Vyse and Nadine aimed their rifles at the Imperials, but Vyse lowered his once he saw that one of the Imperial soldiers was carrying another badly wounded solider one his shoulder, his gun still on it's sling around his shoulder.

"Don't shoot..." said the Imperial soldier, holding up his one free hand, while holding onto his comrade with the other.

Vyse held up his hand to Nadine, and she too lowered her rifle. And after seeing that they were still standing in the doorway Vyse waved them inside, the Imperial soldier nodded and entered the small building and carefully laid his comrade against the wall, opposite of where Vyse and Nadine were. The uninjured Imperial soldier removed his helmet and face plate, he had short redish/brown hair and light blue eyes.

The Imperial soldier was then feeling around his belt, which held afew different pouches, he then patted his water canteen and removed it from his belt and set it ontop of the sand beside him. Next he reached forward and helped his injured comrade remove his helmet and faceplate, once they were removed he picked up his canteen and unscrewed the lid. He tried to pour some water into his comrades mouth but none came out.

"Damn...sorry comrade, guess I really should of followed your advice and drank more slowly." he said.

"No no, I understand, mine's gone too...too damn hot out here." his friend said, chuckling, but coughing shortly afterwards, his face showing pain with each cough.

Nadine watched and her heart went out to them, so she reached down and retrieved her canteen and slowly slid over next to them.

"Here, mine still has plenty left." she said, holding the canteen out to them.

The two imperial soldiers looked at each other and slowly the uninjured one reached out and took Nadine's canteen, "Thanks..." he said, he then poured water into his friends mouth.

He drank but coughed again, spitting up some water. "I'm dying Roman...just leave me be." he said.

But his friend shook his head, "No...your going to live comrade." said Roman, holding his hand against the side of his friends head.

"You did your best, you atleast tried to save me and that's what matters most to me friend...I can die happy knowing your by my side." his friend said, smiling before closing his eyes and lowering his head, exhaling one last time.

Roman began to sob softly, before moving his head forward and placing it against his deceased friends forehead and crying alittle harder now. Vyse and Nadine lowered their heads and closed their eyes, each saying a small prayer for the deceased Imperial soldier.

A short while later, after Roman had folded his dead friends arms across his body and placed his blanket over his body, placing his helmet and rifle next to his covered up body. He had sat down across from Nadine and Vyse, looking down at the ground in sadness.

"Sorry about your friend." said Nadine, Vyse nodded slowly.

"He was a good man, an even better friend." said Roman, a sad look on his face. "I think we might of made a mistake joining the Imperial Army..."

"Hmm...why?." asked Vyse.

"The flyers, the rallies, the recruitment ads on the radio were all lies." said Roman, "**_Join the Imperial army, fight for your country, fight for your homes, great rewards and benefits available_**. Bah, all lies, once me and my friends joined we found out it was nothing like that."

_"Hey Roman, you decided to join up to!!." said Mark, close friend to Roman. He was standing in a long line up at one of the many recruitment halls in the Imperial City._

_"Yeah Mark, didn't want the Imperials thinking you were the best our town had." said Roman, standing in line with his best friend Boris by his side._

_"What makes you think your the best our town has, I've got much better experience with firearms then you do Roman." said Boris, patting his friend on the shoulder, all three of them laughing loudly._

_And once all three friends were signed up, they immediately received their uniforms, armor and firearms and were loaded into a covered troop transport truck, the three friends sat together._

_An hour and a half into their ride, Mark moved forward in his seat across from Boris and Roman, "So what do you think training camp is going to be like?." asked Mark through his helmets faceplate._

_"Dunno, but I look forward to getting started, climbing through the ranks and being able to lead a unit into battle one day." said Boris._

_Just then there was an explosion, followed by another and another, everyone in the truck began to talk rapidly, not sure what was going on. The truck sped up for a few moments, then slammed on the breaks and remained still. The tail gate then opened up and a Imperial officer appeared, blowing a whistle loudly and waving everyone out of the truck. Boris, Mark and Roman jumped out and saw a major battle going on a short distance infront of them once they rounded the truck._

_Roman stopped in his tracks and looked at the battle in sheer awe, Imperial tanks were moving forward, firing at blue, red and white Gallian tanks opposite of them on a grassy field. He then felt someone shove him from behind and saw an officer in red armor shoving him with the butt of his rifle._

_"Come on!, move move move!!." he shouted, firing his gun into the air._

_"Come on Roman, stick close." said Boris, hiding behind a small hut and Roman rushed forward and knelt down beside his friend Boris, Mark joined them as well._

_"What the hell's going on!!." screamed Roman, trembling in fear._

_Boris was busy firing his rifle at the Regular Gallian soldiers who were attacking from the other side. His hobby and fascination with firearms had paid off as he had killed two enemy soldiers, before he ducked back behind his cover and loaded another clip into his rifle._

_"Come on, you have to fight if you want to make it out of this." said Boris to Roman and Mark, they both nodded and stood up and began to fire their rifles wildly, Roman was able to hit 1 soldier, but Mark had no experience with firearms and ended up missing his shots._

_Boris then moved to cover further up while Roman and Mark stayed where they were. Afew tanks on their side exploded and everyone looked to the west, seeing alot more Regular Gallian soldiers approaching._

_A Imperial officer then began to blow a whisle loudly, "Retreat, It's a whole nother Company!!." he shouted and everyone began to pull back, some still firing as they ran backwards_

_Roman patted Mark on the shoulder and he began to pull back as well, Roman remaining where he was, still firing at enemy soldiers, he then spotted Boris a short distance away. So he placed his hand against the side of his mouth._

_"Boris!!, fall back!!." he shouted, and Boris turned around and looked at Roman, but then his chest seemed to explode as a bullet ripped through his back and out the other side of him. Boris's eyes opened wide and he fell forward, laying face down on the ground._

_"BORISSS!!." screamed Roman, standing up and trying to run forward, but felt a hand grab him by the shoulder._

_"Fall back soldier, that's an order!!." ordered a red armored officer, pointing a pistol in Roman's face. Roman looked at his friend Boris, who had raised his head, Roman could still see his eyes blinking through the space between his helmet and faceplate, seemingly calling for help._

_Roman shut his eyes tight, turned his head and began to fall back with the rest of his soldiers._

"That's what happens to most new recruits." said Roman, after narrating his background story. "That's what our 'basic' training is. We're thrust into battle and those who survive, are the ones who have passed basic training."

"Oh my god...that's terrible." said Nadine.

"Indescribably cruel..." said Vyse.

"Once we were back in the truck, our officer said '_**At least he died an Imperial soldier**_.' to me." said Roman, clenching his fist in anger.

"Sorry again." said Nadine.

"Not long after we we're posted here to the Barious desert, we encounter some resistance earlier today. My friend Mark was badly injured..." said Roman, closing his eyes and remembering the events earlier in the day.

_Roman was walking next to Mark on patrol, Roman looking down at the ground, rather then at the surrounding area. Mark noticed and placed his hand ontop of his friends shoulder._

_"I'm sorry about Boris, but he fought and died bravely." said Mark, Roman took his friends hand off his shoulder._

_"How can you say that, you saw what happened. How we were pushed into battle so soon after signing up." said Roman in anger._

_"Keep quiet!!." ordered the officer in Red armor_

_Roman cursed under his breath and kept on walking with his squad, just then a single gunshot rang off and one of the soldiers ahead of them dropped to the ground._

_"Take Cover!!." ordered the officer, "Get behind those rocks!!."_

_Roman and Mark ran behind some cover and cocked his rifle back, he and Mark then began to fire at some figures a short distance away, he then spotted a Gallian tank bigger then any he had seen in any of the previous battles he fought in. The tank fired off a shell and it struck a tank on his side, blowing it up. After having emptied his clip he loaded another but as he pulled the bolt back he saw an enormous wall of dust and sand approaching._

_"Fall back, use the sandstorm as cover!!." ordered the officer and all the Imperial soldiers began to pull back, the tanks going into reverse while firing their main cannons._

_"Come on Mark, we're getting out of here!!." shouted Roman, standing up and running with the rest of the squad. Mark tried to as well but only made 3 running strides before 2 bullets struck him in the back and he fell to the ground._

_Roman looked back and saw his friend on the ground and tried to go back, but the Squad's officer grabbed him by the arm._

_"Fall back you fool, that's squad 7 we're up against!!." he ordered._

_"No sir...I left a friend to die once before, I won't do it again." said Roman._

_"Then go back for your friend, but you do so alone." he said, "I won't risk the lives of my company to save 2 men.", he then let go of Roman and continued on with his soldiers._

_Roman then ran back, reaching his friend Mark just as the sandstorm moved over them._

_"Get out of here Roman, I'm done for." said Mark, waving Roman away._

_"No, I left Boris behind last time. I won't do the same to you, we're getting out of here together!!." said Roman, picking Mark up and supporting him on one shoulder and together the two set off into the desert._

_But with the sandstorm decreasing visibility to near zero, he could not tell north, from south, east from west. He just chose a direction and ran, hoping he would run into more Imperial soldiers along the way._

"But instead, we ran into you." said Roman, looking at Vyse and Nadine sitting together opposite of him.

"It's quite ironic, we're only here because one of our squad mates refused to help me carry my friend back to squad." said Vyse, pointing to Nadine.

"A Darcsen..." said Roman.

Nadine nodded, "That's right...I'm a Darcsen." said Nadine, knowing how Imperials felt about Darcsen's from the stories she had heard.

Roman smiled, "Your much nicer then what we were told to expect." said Roman.

"And what was that?." asked Nadine, curious.

"We were told that Darcsens, along with Militia soldiers we're the most dangerous enemies we would face on the battlefield. Untrained like regular soldiers, not having to follow the rules of war. We've heard stories of militia squads executing Imperial prisoners soon after their capture." said Roman.

"That's not true!!." said Nadine, "We would never do that, it's not the Darcsen way."

"The militia squad's wouldn't do that either, more often we're used by the main army to do their dirty work for them before they step in and claim all the glory for themselves." said Vyse.

Roman smiled, "So it seems that both sides were told stories about the other that weren't true." said Roman, "You both seem like such nice people, the Darcsen girl especially."

"My name is Nadine by the way." said Nadine, smiling at Roman.

Roman smiled back, "And I'm Roman, Roman Petrov, it's very nice to meet you both." said Roman, holding out his hand to Nadine and Vyse. Vyse and Nadine then leaned forward and shook Roman's hand.

"Vyse Inglebard, Squad 7." said Vyse, nodding and smiling to Roman.

Just then there was a massive explosion outside that shook the small house they were hiding inside. Followed by gunfire and shouts, all three of them then headed outside, the storm was starting to clear up and they could see 2 sides, engaged in battle. It was Squad 7 and another militia squad supporting them against a large Imperial force. and they were stuck between the two sides, with machine gun fire, and lancer and tank rounds flying over head.

Roman was then struck in the upper shoulder area by a stray bullet and fell back, Nadine rushed to him and looked at his wound.

"I'm alright, it's not as bad as it looks." said Roman, holding his shoulder in Pain.

Both sides were then close enough that they charged each other, and we're now engaged in deadly hand to hand combat.

Nadine applied a medical compress to Romans shoulder, "Just stay here, keep down!." she ordered, Roman nodded and stayed behind the rock he, Vyse and Nadine were hiding behind. Just then an Imperial soldier lept onto a rock in front of them and swung his rifle downwards like a club at Vyse. Vyse held up his machine gun and blocked the swing, before shoving the rifle away and sweeping the Imperial soldiers legs out from under him with the butt of his machine gun as he swung it like a club too.

"Nadine, stay with Roman. Once this is over we'll take him to our side. Don't let anyone from our side shoot him." ordered Vyse.

"You'd do that?." asked Roman weakly.

Nadine nodded, "We value life very highly, caring for others weaker then ourselves is the Darcsen way." said Nadine. She then stayed in front of Roman, while firing at any Imperial soldiers that took aim at her, Roman even pulled out his sidearm and took down afew Imperial soldiers as well.

Meanwhile, Vyse was working his way through mob of soldiers who were fighting hand to hand. Using his machine gun as a club and hitting any Imperial soldiers in the way with the butt of his machine gun, trying to find Lieutenant Gunther.

Back where Nadine and Roman were, a grenade exploded not too far from them, sending Nadine flying while Roman fell to the ground. The fall had stunned Nadine as she lay on the ground, slowly raising her head, seeing stars.

Behind her Roman saw his same Imperial officer in Red Armor charging towards Nadine, bayonet fixed onto the end of his rifle. He looked down at the ground in front of him and saw the Gallian rifle that Nadine had dropped when she was thrown by the explosion. He picked it up, raised it to his shoulder and took aim.

At the same time, high up ontop of a nearby rock Marina Wulfstan was sniping off enemy soldiers, helping any Gallian militia soldier who was in danger. She then looked through her scope and saw an imperial soldier without a helmet taking aim at something, she followed the end of his rifle barrel to see what he was aiming at and saw Nadine attempting to get up.

"**_He's aiming at Nadine_**..." thought Marina, she quickly moved back and set her sights on the Imperial soldier without a helmet, and placed her finger against the trigger.

Nadine was in a sitting position, hand against her head, which was throbbing from the explosion. She then heard a man yelling behind her, upon turning she saw an Imperial officer charging at her, getting ready to Bayonet her. Nadine cried out in terror, before hearing a single gunshot go off, followed immediately by the Imperial Officer yelling in pain before dropping dead just infront of Nadine. She looked back and saw Roman lowering her rifle she had dropped, the end of the barrel smoking. He then smiled at Nadine, Nadine smiled back momentarily before Roman was struck in the chest by another bullet, falling back against the rock behind him, dead.

Nadine's eyes widened, "Roman..." said Nadine softly.

More Gallian soldiers then began to run past Nadine as they pursued the Imperial soldiers, who were now in full retreat.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17- Two sides of the coin**

Vyse Inglebard had finally found who he was looking for, which was Lieutenant Welkin of Squad 7. "Welkin, I have something very important that I need to tell you!!." said Vyse, grabbing ahold of Welkins arm as he was talking to Alicia.

At the same time, Aika Thompson, who was walking around the area, searching for Vyse, had finally found him. "VYSE!!." yelled Aika, running up to him and wrapping her arms around him, squeezing him hard in a hug.

But Vyse barely noticed as he grabbed Lieutenant Welkin by the sleeve and began to lead him through the crowd of soldiers from Squad 7 and support Squad 1, with Aika attached to his waist.

"Welkin, we found a defector to the..." said Vyse, finally in view of Nadine and the now deceased Roman from the Imperial Army. "Oh no.." said Vyse, letting go of Welkin and dropping to his knees, Aika falling to her knees as she continued to hold onto Vyse. She then looked over his shoulder and saw Nadine holding the right hand of an Imperial Soldier with her own hands, crying.

Nadine noticed something and reached down to Roman's belt, retreaving a black and white photo of him, Mark and Boris holding onto one another in a photo they took together before they signed up for the Imperial Army.

Vyse sighed loudly, walked up to Nadine and placed his hand onto of his shoulder "I'm sorry it turned out this way..." said Vyse, Nadine lowered her head and continued crying.

"He saved me Vyse..." said Nadine, turning and looking at Vyse with her teary, red eyes. "He saved my life, then lost his own...".

Welkin then approached Vyse and stood behind him, Aika was on his right side, neither knew what was going on. A very strange sight indeed, a Darcsen girl shedding tears for an Imperial soldier. Squad 1 and 7 soldiers were staring down at this Darcsen girl, holding the hand of an Imperial soldier as they walked past.

"Vyse...what's going on?." asked Aika, Vyse patted Nadine on the shoulder and stood up once again, turning towards Aika.

"We encountered an Imperial soldier and his injured friend during the sandstorm, we kind of ran into each other out here. But he didn't shoot us, and we didn't shoot him, instead we sat and actually had a conversation with him." said Vyse, "We wanted to save him, bring him to our side so that he wouldn't have to fight in this war anymore...but now..."

"I'm impressed Vyse." said Welkin, smiling, "Instead of treating him like an enemy, you treated him as a fellow human being, the same as you or I."

Vyse nodded, "Had I met this man in other circumstances, he might of been a good friend." said Vyse.

Other members of Squad 7 then began to gather around Vyse, Welkin and Nadine as they the two talked together and Nadine mourned the loss of poor Roman, her saviour.

"Well, you guys made it." said a familiar voice, Vyse and Nadine turned and saw Cezary Regard approaching the group.

"Bastard..." said Vyse under his breath, clenching his fist in anger.

Welkin noticed and looked back at Cezary, "What happened to make it that only Vyse and Nadine were there to meet this Imperial Soldier?. I thought I sent all three of you out."

Cezary looked down at the ground, "We were ambushed by an enemy sniper, and I sure as hell wasn't going to stay there, knowing more Imperials were around." said Cezary.

"So you ran, is that it??." asked Welkin, "You ran and left Vyse and Nadine behind, didn't you."

"Nadine was injured, I told Vyse to head back to squad but he refused to listen to my orders. He could of made it back with me if he wanted to." said Cezary.

"But instead he chose to stay and help a friend and fellow soldier." said Welkin, looking proudly at Vyse.

He then turned to Cezary, reached forward and stripped Cezary of his Corporal patch attached to his uniform jacket. "Vyse, I need a Corporal, and there's no one better I could think of to fill this position then you." said Welkin, holding out the Corporal rank patch to Vyse.

"You can't do that, your not my squad leader!!." protested Cezary.

"No, but I am, I also heard everything and I agree with Welkins choice." said Faldio as he approached the group, "And I'm very disappointed with your choice to save your own skin and not help fellow soldiers. Were it up to me, I'd press charges, but we're at war and we need all the soldiers we can get...even the bad ones."

"Tsk, Whatever." said Cezary, "I get punished for leaving a foreigner and a Dark-hair behind, this war is making everyone crazy.", he then walked away from the group.

Aika was now kneeling next to Nadine, hands ontop of her shoulders sympathetically. "I'm sorry about what happened, I'm glad he saved you though, he was one of the good ones."

Marina Wulfstan was approaching the group, alot of soldiers from Squad 7 were gathered in a circle and Marina went to find out what it was. She then moved past some fellow squad mates and saw what everyone was looking at.

"Oh, it's the same Imperial Soldier I saw through my rifle scope." said Marina.

This caused Nadine to whip her head back and look at Marina, "Was it you!!." said Nadine Angrilly, "Was it you who killed him!!."

Marina breathed deep, her face remaining emotionless as usual, "...No..." said Marina, "I did not kill him."

But Nadine's anger and grief had finally boiled over and in a split second she was up, charged at Marina and tackled her to the ground, and began to hit her with both of her balled up fists, not in a punching manner, but an angry pounding manner.

"HOW COULD YOU!, HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO ROMAN!!." screamed Nadine, tears falling down her eyes as she screamed in agony while pounding her fists against Marinas arms and shoulders as she held them in front of her body.

Marina then flipped Nadine over and mounted her just as Nadine did to her, "That's enough!." ordered Marina, grabbing ahold of Nadine's wrists and trying to stop her from flailing them around. But Nadine's anger gave her great strength as she flipped Marina over again and climbed on top of her once again and began to pound her fists down onto Marina once again.

"YOU BASTARD!!." cried Nadine, "Bring him back!!, Bring Roman back!!.".

Just then Nadine felt someone grab her left arm and twist it back, while at the same time an arm wrapped around her throat from behind and began to apply a choke hold to Nadine's neck while she was lifted off of Marina.

"That's enough Lass!!." said a familiar accented female voice, Nadine looked partially over her shoulder as she coughed and gasped for air from the firm choke hold and looked into a woman's bright blue eyes and pale face with brown hair.

It was Cathrine O'Hara, and she was doing her best to hold Nadine back, keeping her away from Marina. Nadine struggled abit longer before she began to get light headed, her vision getting blurry as the air was cut off from her brain. And once Nadine began to drop Cathrine let go of her and Nadine fell to the ground, still crying hard.

Meanwhile, Marina had gotten back onto her feet and was dusting the sand off her jacket with her hands. She then picked up her rifle and put it over her shoulder by the sling.  
Other members of Squad 7 looked on in worry, others in confusion as they had just arrived to see two members from the same squad fighting in the sand.

Marina looked over at Nadine, "Whether or not you believe me is no concern of mine." said Marina, "But I did not kill that soldier.", Marina then turned around and began to walk away.

Nadine was still on the ground, crying, her tears falling into the sand in little droplets. Cathrine then knelt down on one knee beside Nadine and put her hand ontop of her shoulder as Nadine continued crying.

"Marina didn't shoot him, I stopped her from doing so." said Cathrine, and Nadine looked up at Cathrine O'Hara's eyes.

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_Cathrine O'Hara was laying next to Marina Wulfstan, acting as her spotter as they provided support fire from above to the Gallian Soldiers fighting with the Imperials close quarters combat style. Cathrine was looking through a pair of binoculars and calling out targets to Marina._

_She spotted a shocktrooper, Alex from squad 1 grappling with an Imperial soldier nearly twice his size, the Imperial soldier was inching a bayonet blade closer and closer to Alex's chest as he held onto the barrel of the rifle, trying to hold the blade back._

_"Is this it..." thought Alex, unable to hold onto the rifle barrel for much longer and prevent himself from being Bayoneted. But just then the Imperial soldier trying to stab him was hit in the side of the head with a bullet, his helmet letting out a loud 'PING' sound before blood fell down the side of his head and he to fell to the left and hit the ground dead._

_Back ontop of the rock, Cathrine lowered her binoculars and smiled, "Nice shot, for a young lass, your a great shot." said Cathrine._

_"Thanks." said Marina softly, Cathrine then noticed that Marina quickly moved her eye back in front of the sight, swinging the barrel to the right, she then looked through her binoculars and saw Nadine laying on the ground, she then looked further to the right and spotted an Imperial soldier without a helmet, raising a Gallian rifle up to his shoulder and taking aim._

_"Hold on Nadine..." said Marina softly, aiming at the Imperial Soldier without a helmet, placing the cross hairs directly over his head. But suddenly her scope went black and she was unable to see anything, Marina took her eye away from the scope and saw Cathrine's hand in front of her rifle scope, blocking her view._

_"Something's not right, he has a Gallian rifle and a Blue Gallian Medical compress against his shoulder." said Cathrine, but she looked to her left and saw an Imperial officer charging at Nadine with a Bayonet on the end of his rifle. "Marina, behind Nadine!!." screamed Cathrine, removing her hand away from Marina's rifle scope and Marina quickly swung her barrel to the left and , closed one of her eyes and took aim at the Imperial Officer in Red, who had his bayonet raised up, ready to stab Nadine with it._

_But before Marina could save Nadine, the Imperial Officer was shot in the chest by someone else and dropped dead in front of Nadine. Marina opened both her eyes and looked over at Cathrine, but she didn't have her rifle at the ready, and was armed only with a pair of Binoculars, so it was not Cathrine who saved Nadine. Instead she was staring at something wide eyed, clearly surprised._

_"I don't believe it, that Imperial soldier just shot one of his own and saved Nadine..." said Cathrine, mouth wide open, but then formed a smile._

_Marina even smiled alittle too, but then she heard someone below her, "Traitor!!." screamed a male voice, Marina and Cathrine looked down and saw an Imperial soldier in grey armor raise his rifle up while running. Marina closed one eye, looked through her scope and placed her cross hairs over him, but he ran in front of a rock just as Marina pulled the trigger, her bullet striking the large rock instead of the soldier. A second later they saw the soldier who had saved Nadine get shot in the chest by the other Imperial soldier._

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"So you see, Marina didn't shoot that soldier friend of yours, she takes head shots." said Cathrine after having finished telling her side of the story. "Quite the opposite...she tried to save him."

Nadine felt even worse now as she lowered her head and placed it against the sand, tears still falling from her eyes.

3 hours later, as the sun was setting, Vyse, Aika and Nadine were just finishing up burying their friend Roman and his friend Mark in two graves, side by side. They placed their guns barrel down in the sand just in front of their graves and placed their grey helmets on top of the wooden butt ends of their rifles.

Nadine knelt down in front of the makeshift grave marker for Romans grave, and placed her hands together, interlocking her fingers, saying a short prayer for Roman. Once that was over with, she reached into a little felt bag given to her by Isara and retrieved a tiny doll, which had the same shawl that Isara wore, and another identical Darcsen patterned piece of material wrapped around the dolls head, tiny little strands of Darcsen colored hair were sticking out from the dolls covered head.

Vyse and Aika stood side by side, not sure what she had in her hands.

"This is a Darcsen protective charm doll, said to bring luck and protection to it's owner." said Nadine, "Though it's too late to protect Roman now, I'll still leave it for him. So it may protect and watch over him in the afterlife."

Vyse and Aika nodded, "That's very kind of you." said Aika.

"Someday, when I tell this tale, I'll tell people that Roman Petrov was my friend and a friend to the Darcsens." said Nadine, placing the little doll propped up against Romans makeshift grave marker.

"Listen up 7's!!." shouted Welkin, "We're moving further into the Barious desert to investigate some ancient ruins. So form up!!."

Vyse helped Nadine to her feet and together he, Nadine and Aika formed up beside Welkins tank. Marina walked past Nadine and looked over at her with her one visible eye. Nadine swallowed hard and approached Marina.

"Marina, I'm-" started Nadine, but Marina held up her hand.

"Why don't we save this for another time." said Marina, walking on ahead.

Nadine nodded her head, "Alright, another time." said Nadine, rejoining Vyse and Aika

"Squad 7 move out!!." said Welkin, the Edelweiss moving forward while the other squad members walked ahead of, beside and behind the tank.

Nadine looked back once more at Roman's grave, "Goodbye Roman...my friend." said Nadine softly, smiling once more.

**_Hey Readers...didn't see that one coming did ya!!, maybe some of you knew that Marina could't possibly do that. But that's my writing style, I'm all for unsuspected twists, turns and plot development. Hope your all enjoying the story so far, I'm having alot of fun writing it, the nice comments and reviews make writing this all worth while. And truth be told, I could of posted this story an hour after my last chapter, but I wanted to make sure everyone read it first before finding out the truth about what happened. _**

**_Keep reading, keep reviewing and commenting on the story, sometimes I use the comments as ideas as what to write next so keep them coming in. Never know what I'll use next._**


	18. Chapter 18

**_Yeah, not my best work, but I usually work on 1 new chapter for no less then 2 hours per chapter, I wrote this one in 30 min. Before work and to get this part of the story out of the way...can't really get what I had in my head onto pape_r. I re-uploaded chapter 18, changing parts....hopefully reducing the cheesiness that it is :P**

**Chapter 18- Broken hearts...**

Vyse Inglebard was walking slightly ahead of the Edelweiss, with Nadine beside him. Nadine's leg wasn't hurting as much anymore, but she still had a slight limp. Just then Welkin sped up the Edelweiss and pulled up beside Vyse and Nadine, popping his head out of the hatch.

"Hey, you guys have been through alot today, care for a ride?." asked Welkin.

Vyse and Nadine looked at each other, smiled and Vyse was the first to climb onto the Edelweiss, once he was on he reached down, grabbed Nadines hand and hauled her up to him. And together they sat next to the turret as the tank continued to drive forward.

Meanwhile, nearly 1 kilometer ahead of the squad, were the scouts, scouting the area ahead of the Edelweiss and the other groups. Among them was Aika Thompson, who was looking through her binoculars towards where the Edelweiss was, instead of infront of her where she should be scouting.

And once she saw her best friend Vyse and Nadine, happily chatting together ontop of the moving Edelweiss, she slowly lowered the binoculars, a look of displeasure on her face.

"Yo, Aika!." said a voice, Aika turned and saw that it was Noce, "The enemy ain't in that direction, try to keep focus over here."

Aika sighed loudly, "Sorry, I'll get back on it." said Aika, turning and continuing to walk with the rest of the scouts.

Not long after they came upon a very strange looking building. One made of blue crystals, Aika walked up to it in sheer awe, placing her hand against the side of the building.

"What is this..." asked Aika, Noce walked up beside her.

"Not sure, never seen any building like this before. Must be what we were sent to investigate." said Noce, "Best set up camp here and wait for the others to arrive."

Afew hours later, after the squad had set up their base camp and Welkin, Faldio and Alicia had headed inside to investigate further, the sun was starting to set. Vyse Inglebard was walking around the camp, getting afew salutes from the younger members, he then remember how he had recently got promoted to Corporal and now had the respect of the younger members.

And as he walked, he spotted Nadine, sitting ontop of a rock, near the ledge of a cliff drop off. And as he got closer, he noticed that she was writing in a little book with a small metallic pen. Curious, he made his way over to her. However, Nadine was so into what she was writing she didn't notice Vyse standing behind her.

"Whatcha doing?." asked Vyse, causing Nadine to jump in surprise.

"What me, oh nothing, nothing at all!!." said Nadine, closing the book and trying to hide it.

Vyse smiled and sat next to her, "Sure doesn't seem like nothing. You seemed pretty lost in what you were writing." said Vyse, rubbing the top of Nadine's head with his hand.

"Ok, if you must know." said Nadine, "I'm writing a novel...a Romance Novel.", blushing bright red.

"Oh, your a writer as well?." asked Vyse, "You sure seem pretty talented. A writer and an engineer, is there anything your not good at??."

Nadine chuckled, "I took a literature course back at University, before the war started. Writing has always been a passion of mine. And is something I like to spend my spare time doing. Take my mind off of the persecution of being a Darcsen" said Nadine, "I've already written afew short novels, but this time around I decided to write a romance novel."

"Oh, sounds interesting...so what's this story about?." asked Vyse.

Nadine turned her body and looked at Vyse, "Well basically, it's about a girl, who meets a boy. Who is from a far off land, and slowly, she begins to fall for him. For he's handsome, charming and willing to go through great lengths to protect her from any kind of harm, both physical and emotional harm."

And now, even Vyse's own cheeks began to turn bright red as he looked away, "That...that sounds like an interesting story." said Vyse, Nadine then placed her hand on top of Vyses.

"I am however having a hard time describing one scene", said Nadine, looking down at the ground, still blushing, "It's hard to write a romance novel, when you've never been kissed. So I don't know how to describe the scene in words..."

Vyse was scratching the back of his neck with his right hand, "Well, I guess I could help you out....you know for your story and...stuff." said Vyse.

Nadine chuckled, "Ok, for the story."

"Ok, so I guess if the guy liked the girl, he'd first take hold of her hands.", Vyse taking Nadine's hands in his own.

"Right, figured as much." said Nadine, giggling

"Next he'd...look into her eyes.", Vyse looking into Nadine's eyes, sweat forming on his forehead.

"Right...would his hands be trembling like this also??", Vyse's hands trembled as Nadine held onto them. "I'm starting to understand how to put this into words. Keep going."

"Well, then he would slowly lean forward, closing his eyes.", Vyse doing so as well.

And without being told what to do next, Nadine slowly leaned forward and Vyse and Nadine shared a long, somewhat passionate first kiss as they sat together ontop of the rock, holding hands, the sun slowly setting behind them.

But their moment was interupted, "VYSE!!." screech Aika, "What's going on here!!."

Vyse and Nadine broke apart and looked over, seeing Aika standing before them. A look of sheer shock on her face.

"Aika Baby...this ain't what it looks like." said Vyse, standing up and walking towards Aika. Nadine got up as well and rushed past Vyse.

"Yeah, Vyse was just helping me-" started Nadine, but stopped once she saw Aika, her friend glaring at her.

"I don't even know where to start with you." said Aika, tears building in her eyes.

"Did I do something wrong?." asked Nadine.

"Seems all that goes on these days is you and Vyse, spending time together." said Aika, "While I get left out...now I see why."

"Aika it's not-" started Nadine, looking down at the ground in shame

"I knew coming here was a mistake, all it's done is make Vyse and I drift apart!!." shouted Aika, "He always gets assigned to jobs far away from me, I barely see him when we're out on missions. While you somehow get paired with him each time."

"It's not by choice Aika baby." said Vyse, "I'd love to spend more time with you if I could, I'm just in a different place now. Being a higher rank means that I'll have alot more responsibilities."

"Does it mean more then our friendship?." asked Aika, steaming with anger.

"No, our friendship means the world to me Aika." said Nadine, holding her hands together.

"If that's the case, then why were you just kissing my best friend." said Aika, placing her hand against her forehead, "Perhaps Rosie was right...Darcsens do seem to cause trouble."

"AIKA!!." shouted Vyse, mouth agape

"Please don't say that Aika...it's not something I want to hear from a friend I value as much as you." said Nadine.

"A friend wouldn't do this to another friend." said Aika, hand still against her forehead, she then looked up at Nadine, teary eyed, "So it's obvious that your not my friend!!."

Aika turned around and began to stomp away, Nadine ran forward and grabbed one of her hands and tried to stop her. "Aika, please..." begged Nadine

Aika began to shake in anger, "Take your hands off of me...DARK-HAIR!!." yelled Aika, pulling her hand away from Nadine's grip.

Nadine froze in place, her eyes wide open, her arms still up. "No...not you too.!!." cried Nadine "Why does it have to be you too.", turning and running back to camp, crying.

Vyse looked back at Nadine's retreating form, he wanted to go after her, but decided to try and fix things with Aika first, his best friend.

"Aika...what's wrong, why are you acting like this??." asked Vyse, taking hold of Aika's hands with his own.

"You really have to ask Vyse...What about us?." asked Aika.

"Us?." asked Vyse, confused. "Well I mean, we're friends aren't we, the best of friends."

Aika lowered her head and shook it back and forth, "Oh Vyse...your such an idiot!.", she then grabbed Vyse by the front of his jacket and pulled him forward, pressing her lips against his. After afew seconds she pulled away, Vyse's eyes still wide open in shock.

"All my life I've followed you." said Aika, "From adventure to adventure, from the deepest cave, to the tallest mountain I followed. Even to this bloddy war I followed you, I even went as far as to jump off a moving ship, because I...because I loved you Vyse. And If you had died out on the battlefield...I would of followed you as well."

Aika then turned and began to walk away, Vyse was far too shock at what he had just learned, as well as what had just gone on between the three of them.

Meanwhile Aika was heading back to base camp, tears falling down her face. But once she saw Largo sitting on top of the sandbag set up near the flagpole of the base, smoking a cigarette. She quickly wiped her tears away with her hands. She then stood up straight and cleared her throat

"Excuse me Largo, where's Lieutenant Gunther?." asked Aika, "I need to speak with him right now."

"Oh, the kid, he's inside at the moment." said Largo, pointing to the building behind him. "Been in there awhile actually, I was just going to go and check up on him."

"I'll do it, I need to ask him something important." said Aika, moving past Largo.

"Hey...suit yourself." said Largo, watching Aika walk past him, up the steps and through the small doors.

Aika was still looking down at the ground in sadness, walking through the crystal halls, when suddenly...

"HALT!, Mere mortal!!." shouted a commanding female voice.

Aika came to a stop and looked up. Infront of her was a woman dressed in a black and red high ranking Imperial Officers uniform. And she was pointing a blue, spiral shaped object, like a lance in front of Aika's face. A glowing blue aura surrounded this woman's body, her eyes glowing bright red, and an evil smile spread across this woman's lips. Setting fear into Aika's heart...

**-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Truth be told, I'm not too satisfied with this latest chapter, sounded good in my head. But once you get in onto paper and written down it's like...yeah, that didn't come out like I thought it would. But let me know what you think, feel free to shout out CHEESY!!.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19- Mice vs A Lion- part 1**

Aika was still staring at the sharp, pointed blue lance just inches from her face. Her heart beating furiously. Whoever was infront of her, she was neither friend, nor a normal human. The blue flaming Aura around her proved that.

"Selvaria, enough." said a male voice, and a man dressed in a bright white uniform, complete with white and red cape appeared, he also had some kind of golden crown on his head. "We need not waste our time with such low class militia soldiers." said the man.

Selvaria lowered her lance and bowed, "As you wish Lord Maximilian." said Selvaria, she then placed the lance across Aika's chest and pushed her aside, Aika fell back and remained on the ground in a sitting position. "Move aside mortal", and Selvaria and Maximilian walked past Aika as she trembled in fear, remaining on the ground until they were out the entrance.

Just then Alicia, Welkin and Faldio came running through a door on the other end of the blue temple, Welkin spotted Aika on the ground. "Aika, are you alright?. Are you hurt??." asked Welkin, helping Aika to her feet.

"No, I'm not hurt...who was that just now?." asked Aika.

"It was Prince Maximilian and one of his generals." said Welkin.

"The commander of the entire Invasion force that's attacking Gallia." said Alicia.

"It would seem that he has a Valkyria among his forces, this isn't good." said Faldio.

Meanwhile outside, Vyse was heading back to base camp. "_I should try and find Aika_." thought Vyse, "_How could I have been so stupid_!"

He then spotted Largo, still smoking his cigarette. "Hey, Largo!." said Vyse, "Did Aika happen to come this way??"

Largo laughed, "I thought you guys were always attached to the hip, but guess not." said Largo, he then pointed to his right, "She went insi-", but something made Largo stop, a look of surprise on his face, the cigarette falling from his mouth and onto the ground.

Exiting the temple was a woman, engulfed in some kind of blue flame, with glowing red eyes, walking in front of Prince Maximillian. "_Oh man_..." thought Largo, he quickly got up and ran to the flagpole which had a siren button attached to it. He slammed his palm against the button and a loud siren began to blare over and over again. Alerting the rest of squads 1 and 7.

More shock troopers, scouts and lancers from Squads 1 and 7 then appeared and pointed their guns towards Maximillian and Selvaria. Selvaria raised her blue shield up and raised her blue lance, protecting Maximillian, who didn't even had a look of concern or worry on his face as he looked around at the troops gathering in front of him.

Welkin and his group then appeared from the temple, "Maximillian hold it right there!!." shouted Welkin, "Surrender now and you will not be harmed."

Maximillian moved his head back and began to laugh out loud, "You really think I'd surrender that easily without a fight." said Maximillian, he then looked over at Selvaria, "Selvaria, if you would..."

"Yes, Lord Maximillian." said Selvaria, she then pointed her lance up and to the right, taking aim at a gigantic boulder in the distance. And suddenly a bright blue, spinning light began to rotate around her lance, before she fired off some kind of beam of light that shot towards the giant boulder, causing a bright, blue explosion which obliterated the rock into hundreds of tiny pieces.

Everyone then lowered their guns, some exclaiming and chattering in fear. Even someone as brave as Vyse was shook by what he had just witnessed. His heart beating low and loud in his chest and ears.

Selvaria then returned to combat ready position in front of Maximillian, "Anyone care to try and apprehend my lord." asked Selvaria, her eyes shifting from right to left as she looked at the now terrified soldiers.

Just then the ground began to rumble and shake, as if something of gigantic proportions was beginning to approach them. Maximillian looked to the north, "So, it's here." he said, "Well, if you want a fight, then you shall get it.", he then began to walk away, while Selvaria slowly walked backwards, protecting Maximillian from behind.

Moments later, a tank, bigger then anything anyone had ever seen had appeared. It's treads alone towered over Welkins own tank. It had an enormous cannon on the back and front, as well as 6 smaller turrets protecting it from the front, back and sides.

And no one could do anything but watch as Maximillian boarded the tank, with Selvaria remaining on the ground, watching for any sudden movements from the militia soldiers. And after some words were exchanged Selvaria began to run towards the east, leaving Maximillian alone...almost. He was now inside the giant tank and his voice could be heard through a megaphone attached to the outside of the tank.

"Now Gallian fools, if you still wish for a fight, come and get it." said Max's voice, "My general Selvaria will not interfere, let's see if you have what it takes to defeat MY tank, the Batomys!!.", he then began to loud loudly, his laughter echoing through the cliff walls.

Falido turned to Welkin, "Welkin, you try and take care of the Batomys. I will gather my squad and go after the Valkyria woman." said Faldio.

"Sounds like a plan...may I ask something." said Welkin.

"What?." asked Faldio.

"Could you leave half your lancers here, looks like we'll need all of the lancers we can find to fight this kind of enemy." said Welkin.

Faldio nodded and looked around, "Yoko!, Hector!, McDonald!, Parks!, Johnson!" shouted Faldio to his lancers. And the called for lancers appeared, "I need you to stay here and help Welkin against the Batomys!."

Everyone nodded, "Right sir, we'll give em hell!!." shouted Hector

"You can count on me!!." said Yoko, raising her lance up with one hand.

"And Welkin...Good Luck!!." said Faldio, shaking Welkin's hand before jumping into his tank and heading eastward, after the Valkyria woman.

Welkin then climbed onto his own tank, his own squad now gathered around it in a semi-circle.

"Alright guys...this isn't going to be an easy fight. It's likely to be LONG and bloody." said Welkin, "But I have faith in my squad, I know you all can do this!!."

"YES SIR!!." shouted everyone in unison.

Just then another militia squad, squad 4 had joined them, "Got word that Prince Maximillian himself is here. Mind if Squad 4 joins you in this mighty battle?." asked the Lieutenant

"Not at all, we're gonna need all the help we can get." said Welkin.

Everyone then headed down to the battlefield, getting into trenches, behind sandbags and behind rocks and boulders. And very slowly, the mighty Batomys began to approach them. Shaking the very ground beneath the soldiers feet.

Welkin was behind everyone, hiding his tank behind a large rock, big enough to conceal his tank, but still allow him to see over top of it if he stuck his body halfway out of the top tank hatch. Welkin looked around and saw alot of his soldiers shaking in fear, Karl's gun barrel was shaking so badly as he aimed it towards the on coming Batomys.

"Be brave men!!." shouted Welkin, "We have to stop this thing, right here, right now!!."

The Batomys then came into full view, as it drove forward, like an unstoppable juggernaut, crushing large rocks and boulders underneath it's massive treads.

"Lancers!, FIRE!!." ordered Welkin and a volley of Lancaar rounds fired from the lancers flew towards the Batomys. The rounds then exploded one after the other against the mighty armor of the batomys. But once the smoke cleared, the Batomys continued on, seemingly undamaged.

"Ha ha ha ha...is that it?." asked Maximillan through the megaphone, "Well...my turn!!."

And the machine gun turrets, both front and sides began to open fire at the soldiers both infront and on the sides of his Batomys tank. Afterwards, soldiers from Squad 4 were killed, 1 of Faldios lancers, McDonald was killed in the deadly volley and Audrey had been shot through the leg after the shots stopped firing.

"Medic!!." shouted Welkin and Fina, along with afew more medics appeared, "Please, evacuate the wounded, we'll cover you."

"Yes sir!." said Fina, waving her medical staff forward and together they all headed down to the battlefield, Welkins tank firing shell after shell towards the Batomys, but even his own tank seemed to have no effect on it. None of the lancers seemed to be having much luck either. The Batomys armor was just too thick and strong for a lancer round to break through.

On the right side of the Batomys, Hector had fired off his last Lancaar round, "I'm out!!, I need a reload!!." he shouted, and Nadine came running. Jumping into the trench he was hiding inside. Crouched inside the trench was Aika, huddled down.

Nadine looked over at her, but didn't say anything, instead she took afew Lancaar rounds off her pack and set them beside Hector. But just when it looked like she was about to say something to Aika, another "RELOAD!!." order was shouted and Nadine looked at Aika once more, then climbed out of the trench, moving from cover to cover as she dodged the Batomys turrets.

Welkin was keeping an eye on Fina, and the other medics, who were dragging injured soldiers behind solid cover or into nearby trenches.

"Soldiers, aim for the machine gun turrets, protect the medics!!." ordered Welkin and the lancers aimed for the ball turrets.

"I hate tanks!!." shouted Elysse, aiming her lance towards a turret and firing her Lancaar round. The round hit the turret and destroyed it.

The turrets themselves didn't seem that armored so the lancers continued taking them out.

But by the time they had taken out all the turrets, there were many casualties from the assisting Squad 4, another Lancer from Faldios squad, Parks had died as well. Jann Walker also took a shot to the arm, and one to the leg and was out of action.

"So many injuries..." thought Welkin, seeing all the troops down, or being helped by the medics. "And we've barely done anything to the Batomys..."

Just then the Batomys mighty front turret began to move, very slowly. Vyse looked up and saw it aiming towards a large blue chuck of rock, where Nadine was helping Johnson and afew shock troopers from Squad 4 reload their weapons.

"Nadine!, get out of there!!." shouted Vyse, running towards Nadine, once he got to her, he grabbed her by her backpack strapped and dove behind some sandbags set up nearby.

The Batomys fired off a massive shell that obliterated the large chunk of blue rock, taking Johnson and the 3 shock troopers from squad 4 with it.

"Damn it..." thought Welkin, pounding his fist onto the turret of his tank, the Edelweiss. But his attention turned upwards, to the tank that let out a loud hiss as 3 blue glowing boxes appeared.

"Welks, those appear to be radiators from the Batomys, if we destroy those it should help slow that tanks efficiency." said Isara.

"Good plan," he then relayed this information to his squad.

"Sounds good...but just how are we supposed to do that?." asked Vyse.

Nadine looked around at the Batomy and spotted a ladder leading up to one of the radiators, "I've got an idea." said Nadine, taking a Grenade off of her belt and jumping over the sandbag cover, and running towards the Batomys. Once she reached it she began to climb the ladder, an Imperial soldier then appeared from a nearby hatch and aimed down at Nadine. But Vyse raised his machine gun up and shot the soldier, who's body dropped and nearly clipped Nadine as he fell to the ground.

Nadine then reached the top, and pulled the safety cord on her stick grenade, chucking it into the radiator, before she jumped back down to the ladder and tried to climb back down before the grenade went off. The resulting explosion, which destroyed the radiator, but also shook the entire batomys knocking Nadine off the ladder and she fell the remaining distance to the ground below, breaking her leg from the fall.

But Fina grabbed ahold of Nadine and dragged her to a nearby trench, covered infront by large, solid rocks.

"Nice work!, that seemed to do the trick!!." complimented Welkin, "Alright 7's block that monsters path with debris so it has to fire it's main cannon. and once the radiators appear, someone take out the next radiator."

The squad obeyed the new orders and blocked the Batomys way with many more boulders and debris. And once the Batomys fired its mighty front cannon, the radiators appeared once again.

A short distance away Vyse was with Hector behind some cover, he scouted the area and turned to Hector. "Ok Hector, I need you to fire a round off at the ground just infront of the Batomys." ordered Vyse.

"I only have 2 rounds left, are you sure about that?." asked Hector.

"Yes, I'm hoping that the explosion will kick up enough sand and dust that I can approach the tank unseen." said Vyse.

"Sounds like a plan, ready when you are." said Hector, moving out of cover and aiming his next round at the said location.

"FIRE!." shouted Vyse and Hector fired, and indeed it did kick up alot of smoke and dust, enough to shield him from view as he ran towards the tank. He then climbed up the ladder, and chucked a grenade inside the radiator, getting out of the way before it exploded. But he managed to hang onto the ladder and not get thrown off.

But he saw something that he wasn't expecting, the Valkyria woman had returned, this time with alot more soldiers and tanks escorting her.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20- Mice vs a Lion part 2**

Vyse stared at the Valkyrian woman in the distance, along with the force that she had brought from the east. "Guess this means that Squad 1 didn't fair so well against her..." thought Vyse, still hanging onto the ladder. He then jumped down and ran for cover.

"Oh great, the Valkyria woman is back." thought Welkin, "Listen up 7's, that Valkyria woman has returned. From what Varrot has told me, we cannot do anything against her. So avoid her at all costs!!."

"Roger that sir!!." came the reply from the rest of the squad.

The sound of numerous shouts and battle cries then filled the air as Selvaria's forces began their charge towards the Gallian forces.

"Lieutenant Gunther...destroy that last radiator." said the leader of squad 4 through his radio, "I'll take what's left of my forces and try to buy you guys some time...do Gallia proud Welkin."

And the remaining forces of Squad 4 diverted their attention from the marmota and began to fight against Selvaria's forces.

"Alright, We'll do our best!!." said Welkin.

the Batomys then came up to another giant boulder blocking it's way and destroyed it with it's main cannon. And the last radiator popped up, the closest units were Lynn and Karl, huddled inside of a trench.

Karl peeked over the top of the trench and spotted the last radiator, a short distance away. But making her way towards the Batomys was the Valkyria, Selvaria.

"G-got to get t-there before her!!." said Karl, he then took a grenade off of his belt and held it in his hands. He was shaking terribly and breathed deep.

"I can do this..." said Karl, but Lynn placed her hand on top of Karl's and began wrapping her fingers around the handle of the grenade, looking Karl in the eyes.

"I can do this..." said Karl once again, Lynn then took the grenade from Karl's hand without saying a word.

"Cover me, I'm going in Karl." said Lynn.

"Thanks...I wish I could be as brave as you are Lynn." said Karl, reloading another clip into his rifle and keeping an eye out for enemies.

Selvaria then reached Squad 4, who were attempting to block the advance of the enemy forces. And bullets began to rain down on the Valkyrian woman, but they didn't seem to have any effect on her as she continued running, shield held up in front of her.

"Take her down!!, take her down!!." shouted Squad 4's leader, his tank firing off a shell that exploded just in front of Selvaria.

But once the smoke and dust began to dissipate, they saw that even a tank shell had no effect either. Selvaria glared at the soldiers in front of her, before she aimed her lance's tip towards them and began firing off beam after beam of unknown energy at them in a rapid fire style. And after the 1st Volley, more then half of the remaining squad 4 soldiers were dead, the small Gallian tank squad 4's leader was in was full of holes as well, black smoke spewing out of the open top hatch of the tank.

Meanwhile, back at the Batomys battle, Lynn was taking some deep breaths. "Alright, here I go!!." she shouted before she climbed out of the trench and began to run full speed towards the batomys. Dodging bullet fire from the Batomys one remaining turret, as well as some shots from Imperial soldiers who slipped past Squad 4's blockade.

But she made it there and started her climb up the ladder, bullets striking the metal armor just inches from where she was climbing. Once she was up ontop of the batomy's she pulled the safety cord for the grenade and chucked it inside of the last radiator.

She was about to climb back down the ladder, but saw Selvaria already on the ground below her, aiming her lance up at her.

"Oh no..." thought Lynn, knowing she was probably about to die.

But just then a blue mortar round, fired from Welkins tank exploded near Selvaria, doing no harm to her other then making her even more angry, angry enough to divert her attention away from Lynn as she looked towards Welkins tank, which was reversing, getting behind a large rock just as Selvaria fired her beam weapon in rapid fire mode again.

Knowing it was useless to climb down, Lynn looked to her right and saw a large boulder afew feet away, it had a flat surface on top and a sloping surface all the way to the ground on one of it's side, leading away from Selvaria. So she used what little space she had up top of the Batomys to get as much of a running start as she could. nearing the edge, she lept from the top of the Batomys and sailed through the air, hitting and rolling along the top surface of the boulder just as the grenade exploded, destroying the last radiator. Next she quickly slide down the smooth sloped surface of the backside of the rock, like a slide at a park and hit the ground rolling. Now safely behind a large boulder that separated her from Selvaria on the other side.

The Batomy's itself was now spewing smoke from it's 3 destroyed radiators, severly damaged.

"Alright 7's now's our chance, that beast is about to fall. BRING IT DOWN!!." ordered Welkin, and the lancers began to fire round after round at the damaged Batomys. Welkin's tank shelling the hell out of it as well.

And now it was the Valkyrias turn to feel fear, for her master Prince Maximillian, who was inside still. Selvaria blew open one of the steel doors leading into the Batomy's interior, returning moments later with an enraged Maximillian retreating with the crew of the Batomys.

And as Vyse fired his machine gun at the retreating soldiers, he heard the sound of more approaching tank engines, followed by lots of shouts and battle cries. Squads 1 and 3 were now joining the battle.

More shocktroopers and scouts from Squads 1 and 3 joined Vyse behind the sandbag cover he was using, next to Rosie, Largo and afew scouts from squad 7.

A radio transmission came through, "All units, pursue Maximillian, don't let him get away!!." said Welkin's voice through the radio.

"Sure thing boss!." said Rosie, she then stood up from behind her cover, "Alright guy's let-"

But Vyse hopped on top of the sandbags and raised his machine gun in the air, "COME ON, LET'S GO!!." he cried, other shock troopers began cheering for him, he then waved his arm sharply forward "MOVE!!", and Vyse was the first one to leap over the sandbags, but was quickly followed by other shock troopers, scouts and lances all yelling at the tops of their lungs as they pursued Maximillian and his remaining forces.

And all Rosie could do was kneel behind the sandbags, shocked that that Vyse had stole her moment to lead the troops on herself. For being a foreigner, the other soldiers followed him as if he were one of their own.

The Gallian forces were now in full pursuit of the Imperial forces, firing lancaar anti-tank rounds destroying some of the retreating tanks. Spraying Imperial soldiers in the back with machine gun rounds from the shock troopers machine guns.

It almost looked like they would get all of the remaining Imperials before the witnessed Selvaria deflect a tank shell with her lance. Swatting it away as if it were an unwelcome insect, flying towards her. Next she raised her shield up and another tank and Lancer round bounced off her spinning shield, sailing into the air before exploding above her.

And after this, they stopped their pursuit, letting the Imperials go...this time.

The aftermath said it all, despite defeating the Batomys itself, the Gallian forces suffered twice as many casualties then the Imperials. It was not a sweet victory.

All over the battlefield were injured soldiers from squads 1, 3, 4 and 7. The medics had their hands full treating the wounded. Meanwhile, Vyse was kneeling next to Nadine who was propped up against a rock, Fina the medic treating her broken leg.

"You going to be alright Nadine??." asked Vyse, concerned.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." said Nadine, managing to crack a smile, "looks like we both managed to take out a radiator."

"You took out the first radiator and it gave me courage to do so myself, so it's thanks to your brave actions that I was able to do my part." said Vyse

A short distance away Aika was watching them from a distance, concealed behind a rock. She brought her head back and placed her back against the rock and sighed loudly. "Nadine's the first one he goes to after the battles over...he didn't even come check to see if I was alright." thought Aika, "Guess I know where his feelings lie...", and she began to walk away heartbroken.

Meanwhile, "I'm really glad that your ok, but I better go find Aika." said Vyse, giving Nadine's right hand a squeeze in between both of his hands. "I hope she made it through this...", and Vyse set off to find Aika.

Moments later he did indeed spot her, walking towards Welkin, Alicia, Faldio and Captain Varrot. But as he tried to make his way over to Aika he was constantly getting stopped by other soldiers.

"Hey Vyse man!, that was pure awesomeness, the way you climb aboard that tank and destroyed one of those radiators!!." said Ted, shaking Vyse's hand briskly.

"Yeah, thanks, now if you'll excuse me." said Vyse, moving past Ted and continuing on towards Aika, who was now afew steps ahead of him.

"Hey kid, great job out there. Guess you ain't so bad after all!!." said Largo, rubbing the top of Vyses head, laughing out loud.

"Thanks Largo, but I'm alittle busy now." said Vyse, moving past Largo as well. Aika was now even more steps ahead of Vyse then she was afew seconds ago. Getting closer to Welkin, Varrot, Alicia and Faldio.

But now even more troops from other squads swarmed Vyse, eager to shake the hand of one of the heroes of the battle. And now Vyse had come to a complete stop, unable to move forward anymore as males, females, young and old ran up to Vyse to congratulate him.

Meanwhile, Aika was just afew steps away from Captain Varrot, the one she was seeking. But she looked back and saw Vyse with a crowd of fans all around him. "Looks like you got what you wanted Vyse. Elevated to hero status...famous...congratulations." thought Aika, she then reached Captain Varrot.

"Excuse me Ma'am, can I speak with you for a moment." said Aika, coming to attention and giving a salute.

"Sure Private Aika Thompson." said Varrot, excusing herself from Welkin and the others. And together Aika and Captain Varrot walked a short distance away, until they could have their private conversation.

"So, something I can do for you, private??." asked Varrot, adjusting her glasses with her index finger.

Aika took a deep breath, "Ma'am, I was thinking...I'd like to leave the Militia...I just want to go home." said Aika.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21- Lost opportunities**

Aika Thompson was standing in front of Captain Varrot, but she couldn't bring herself to look her captain in the eye anymore as she stared down at the ground sadly.

But the response she got wasn't what she expected, "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that!!." said Varrot sternly. Aika looked up and her Captain was glaring at her.

"Ma'am??." asked Aika, alittle surprised and worried now.

"Aika...do you have any idea how selfish that request you just made was??." asked Varrot, "To say something like that after what just happened on this battlefield today is unbelievable."

"Sorry Ma'am...I just..." started Aika, feeling alittle ashamed now.

"Aika, we all want to go home you know." said Varrot, "But until this war is over, we are all here for the remainder of it. And that paper you signed at the recruitment hall was an agreement to stay and fight until this war has reached it's conclusion. A militia soldier you are now and a militia soldier you will remain."

"Yes Ma'am." said Aika

"And after all of the soldiers we lost to that Valkyrian woman today...." said Varrot, closing her eyes and sighing, "We need all of the soldiers we can get at this point in the war. Most likely there will be another conscription order, asking even younger citizens to be recruited to fight in this bloody war."

"I understand ma'am...and I apologize, I didn't mean to be so selfish." said Aika, "Things everywhere have just changed for me recently."

"What was it that changed??." asked Varrot, "You seemed so eager to sign up for the militia not long ago and now you want to leave??".

"Just...personal reasons ma'am. Sorry for wasting your time." said Aika, standing straight and saluting her captain once more.

She then began to return back to the squad's sleeping tents, Squad 7's long rectangular tent was set up in the middle of the camp. The medical tent near the outskirts, the mess hall tent was now set up as well, so were the showers.

Squad's 1, 3, 4 and 7 were now recovering from the fight today, spread out all over the camp in groups or alone like Marina Wulfstan. She was sitting alone, cleaning her sniper rifle, something she was seen doing very often.

Aika found a wooden crate nearby and sat on it, placing her rifle on top of the box next to her. She then placed her hands against her face as she sighed loudly, but then felt the goggles given to her by Nadine, resting on top of her head. And she took them off and looked down at them, now they didn't make her as happy to own them anymore. And again she closed her eyes and sighed sadly.

She then felt something nudge against her right boot, and looking down she saw Hans, Squad 7's porcavian mascot looking up at her with it's big black eyes.

"Oink!" said Hans, jumping up and down.

"What is it boy?." asked Aika, "You want me to pick you up??.", Hans oinked again and jumped up and down once again.

"haha, ok ok." said Aika, bending down and picking up Hans and holding him in her arms. Softly running her hands along the top of his head, Hans oinked again in pleasure. Before rubbing his snout in Aika's face, seemingly giving her a kiss. And Aika laughed.

"Thanks boy, that's just what I needed to cheer me up." said Aika, rubbing Hans head, "I'm glad your here atleast, I'll be counting on you to cheer me up whenever I'm feeling down...got it??."

Hans oinked again and bobbed his head up and down, causing Aika to Giggle. Vyse was watching from behind one of the tents, happy to see that she was laughing again and decided to let her be for now, he didn't want to upset her again, now that she was smiling once again.

And for the rest of the day and into the Night, Aika and Vyse kept their distance from each other, Aika sat with another group at supper and hung out with Ted and Cathrine O'Hara during free time. Vyse just drifted from group to group, not really paying attention to what the conversation was about, or what card game they were playing. His eyes kept drifting over to Aika every now and then. Sometimes they'd make eye contact for afew moments before they broke off, but no smiles were ever exchanged.

Before heading off to bed, Vyse decided to check up on how Nadine was doing in the medical tent. She was reading a book, so he sat beside her and she closed the book and looked over at him.

"How's Aika..." asked Nadine, holding her hands together nervously on her lap

"I'm not sure, she seems alright, but we haven't spoke since..." said Vyse.

"Yeah, I remember." said Nadine, "And I'm sorry for that."

"Aika and I have had our fights in the past, all friends do." said Vyse, "But this is the first time it's been this severe."

"I hope we can work through this somehow, I treasure her friendship." said Nadine.

"And Nadine...she didn't mean it, when she called you a..." said Vyse, drifting off at the end.

"I know Vyse, I'm not going to lie and say it didn't hurt. It did, I've been called Dark-hair all my life. But to hear it from a best friend was more painful then all the other times I've been called it by strangers." said Nadine, "I'll get over it, just not tonight."

"I just feel so bad for bringing her here." said Vyse looking down at the ground sadly, "I could tell that she didn't even want to come. I...I talked her into it. But in the end, it turns out she came here because I did."

"Well, I'm still glad you both came here, you've shown us Darcsens a kindness we have not been shown for a very long time." said Nadine.

"Well, I best be off. We're moving out tomorrow." said Vyse, standing up and smiling at Nadine.

"Goodnight Vyse, see you in the morning." said Nadine, laying down in her cot and closing her eyes.

Very early, the next day the squad was all formed up, ready to move out, back to Amatriain Military Base. To restock both ammo, supplies and replacements.

"Squad 7, move out!!." said Welkin, the Edelweiss driving down the road leading back to base. Squad 7's soldiers walking on either side of the road.

Afew hours later, it was late afternoon and the squad had arrived at the Kloden Wildwoods, one area they would have to go through to get back to base. welkin decided to half the march, to scout out the area before moving on.

Welkin was talking to Alicia ontop of the Edelweiss, a map inbetween, there were spots were landmines were discovered in the road.

"A jeep from Squad 1 was blown up by a landmine earlier today, but other then that there was no resistance." said Welkin.

"So we should send some engineers along with the scouts to disarm these mines before we send our tank through right?." said Alicia, Welkin nodded in agreement.

And a meeting was called, all of the squad members present.

"Alright listen up, we'll be sending a reconnaissance patrol ahead of the rest of the squad. There are reports of landmines in the road up ahead as well." said Welkin, "For this mission, I have selected..."

"Juno Coren." said Welkin.

"Yes sir!!." said Juno, coming to attention and saluting Welkin.

"Noce Wordsworth." called out welkin

"Yes sir!!." responded Noce, stepping forward and coming to attention.

"Aika Thompson!"

"Right boss!." said Aika, stepping forward and coming to attention.

"Claudia Mann"

"Yes sir!." replied Claudia, stepping forward and stomping her right foot against the ground.

"And lastly Dallas Wyatt."

"Yes sir!." replied Dallas, but looking over at Alicia and saluting her instead of Welkin

"The rest of us will hold up here and wait for 2 hours." said Welkin, "There haven't been any reports of enemy movement in the area, but stay sharp none the less."

The squad was then dismissed and those chosen headed to the supply trucks, supplying up on ammo and tools they would need for mine disarming. The Chosen 5 began to walk down the road, leading into the Kloden Wildwoods.

But as Aika was walking with her group, she heard her name being called. "Aika!, Aika baby!!." called out Vyse as he jogged up to her.

Aika sighed and stopped, "I'll just be a minute guys." said Aika, looking at her squad mates, then turning to Vyse.

"Vyse...please don't call me Baby for the time being." said Aika, avoiding eye contact with Vyse.

"Sorry, Aika...this isn't right, what's going on between us. We've been friends for too long for things to end like this." said Vyse.

"Listen, we'll talk about this when I get back, ok." said Aika, "I'm still upset you know, and need to focus on my mission. So, just leave me be for now...ok?."

Vyse sighed, "Alright, but I'll be waiting for you when you get back, we'll then sit down and have a nice long talk." and Vyse left Aika to her mission, heading back to camp.

Aika smiled alittle and returned to her group.

A few minutes later, as the group walked along the road, scouting the area, Aika let out a long, sad sigh.

"Uh oh...I know that sound." said Noce, moving his rifle from left to right scouting the area.

"Hmm..oh sorry, just something else is kind of weighing heavily on my mind." replied Aika.

"Boy troubles?." asked Juno, her eyes scanning the area around her as they continued to walk forward.

Aika chuckled, "Come on guys, we're on patrol here." said Aika

"Well that may be, but it's best to get it off your chest." said Noce

"Alright, it's boy troubles. Some guys are just so oblivious to what's in front of them, while they notice other girls right away." said Aika, the group chuckled in response.

"I agree, men are jerks. which is why I don't bother with them at all." said Dallas, walking behind the three scouts, next to Claudia Mann.

"Ouch...thanks alot Dal." said Noce.

"Hey trust me, it ain't much easier for us guys you know." said Noce, "It's tough wanting to be closer to someone...but you can't. They just out of your reach."

"Oh and who would that be?." asked Juno, her curiosity burning.

"Just a certain, headscarf wearing girl." said Noce, grinning ear to ear.

"Alicia??." asked Juno, Noce just nodded.

"I think she and Welkin have got something going between the two of them." said Juno sadly, "But knowing how Welkin is, I don't think he's going to get the hints she's dropping him. Well he never did with me anyways."

"Oh...you like Welkin EH!." said Dallas teasingly.

Juno brought her hand up to her mouth, "Oh no...I've said too much.", she then turned to everyone. "Listen don't tell him I said that!!, I'll tell him...when the time is right."

"Hey, our lips are sealed." said Noce, "What's said within the group, stays in the group."

"And I know how you feel, I've always wanted to tell Alicia how I feel, but I just can't put my feelings into words. So I'm writing some Ballads for her, hopefully it'll win her heart over."

"Yeah I know how you feel, Alicia is a very beautiful woman. Smooth, silky brown hair, dark brown eyes. And the most perfect curves a woman can have." said Dallas and everyone stopped walking, the three scouts looking back at Dallas, Claudia taking two side steps to the left away from her.

Dallas rolled her eyes and smiled, "Yeah...I like girls." said Dallas, holding her hands up "Lock me up."

"Alright anyways..." said Noce, continuing walking with the others "What about you Claudia Mann?, any special guys in your life??."

Claudia Mann blushed bright red, "No...Love is another 4 letter L word that I have absolutely no luck with. Love and Luck are two things that I just do not have going for me." replied Claudia, rubbing the back of her neck with her right hand.

"Ah, don't worry about it. Soon you'll find someone who's right for you." said Juno, "Just don't be like us...don't wait too long to tell them how you feel."

Everyone sighed at the same time, closing their eyes and picturing their crush. Noce picturing Alicia in her blue dress from Bruhl and red and white headscarf. Juno picturing Welkin sitting across from her in one of their University classes. Aika picturing Vyse, leaning against a ships side railing, grinning at her. And Dallas, picturing Alicia in her sleepwear, she smiled the most out of everyone else.

"Alright, I officially dub this patrol, "The Heartbreak Patrol.", said Noce, he and everyone else laughed and nodded in agreement.

The group then came up to the first landmine area marked on their map, the sun was setting at this time. The scouts all knelt down and continued scanning the area, while Claudia Mann and Dallas Wyatt were busy disarming some mines. They worked quickly, while the scouts guarded them.

"So who's your crush?." asked Noce.

Aika smiled, "Well guess since you guys were so honest, I can be to." said Aika, "His name is V-"

But suddely an extremely loud overhead whistling sound could be heard as everyone looked up at the sky.

"MORTAR!!." shouted Noce, ducking down as low as he could, everyone else hit the ground as the mortar round exploded 20 feet behind them, shaking the ground beneath their feet.

Everyone then got back up and began to look around, but another mortar round was approaching. Once again everyone ducked and this one exploded just alittle bit closer. Once that was gone everyone jumped to their feet.

"Get into the ditch!!." ordered Noce and everyone ran to one side of the road, hopping into the ditch, all except Claudia.

"Come Claudia, get out of the road!!." shouted Juno, waving Claudia Over.

Claudia slowly shook her head, her lips quivering, "Guys...I can't." said Claudia, her voice shaking with fear. She was staying as still as she could while pointing down at her feet. And in her haste, she had stepped on top of a landmine, remaining where she was was all that was keeping it from going off.

"Oh no...Hang on Claudia, we'll think of something." said Dallas, scartching her head, thinking hard.

Aika Thompson was terrified, they had walked into an enemy ambush and did not know just how many of them there were out there. She felt even more scared for Claudia Mann.

Another Mortar round was coming in, but Claudia couldn't duck down for cover now. She closed her eyes and prayed, the round went off further away this time so she was safe for the time being. But the next one might not. Now in the distance, they could hear voices from approaching Imperial Soldiers.

"Guys...get down, I'm going to step off. I'm far too obvious a target here, if they see me standing in the middle of the road they'll know where you guys are." said Claudia, "Don't worry about me, as long as your all safe, I don't mind going."

"No Claudia DON'T!!" cried Noce, reaching his hand out towards Claudia.

Claudia smiled, closed her eyes and lifted her foot...

But the landmine didn't explode, it was a dud. It just let out a click sound when Claudia raised her foot and remained intact, unexploded. But Claudia didn't even have time to be relieved before she heard an incoming Mortar round, Claudia took a step forward, but tripped and hit the ground. The mortar shell then sunk into the ground just afew feet in front of her face and from the others huddled in the ditch...but that too was a dud. It just remained smoking in the dirt.

Claudia stood up and looked down at the unexploded mortar shell, Noce slapped himself in the forehead.

"Claudia!!, you are WITHOUT a doubt, THE luckiest girl I have ever seen!!." cried Noce, the others nodding in agreement.

Claudia smiled at the others, but the sound of a gunshot echoing through the area made her smile disappear, her gaze turning down to her chest, where a bullet wound now was, blood spilling from her wound, down her uniform jacket. Claudia's eyes closed and she fell to the side and hit the road hard.

"No!, Claudia!!." cried Aika, and she scurried out of the ditch and grabbed onto Claudia, while Noce grabbed ahold of her as well and together they hauled Claudia into the ditch with them. Dallas and Juno firing their rifles at the unseen enemies hiding behind trees, in bushes.

Aika pressed some medical gauze against Claudia's gunshot wound, Noce taping it in place and putting his hand ontop of Aika's, helping put more pressure on the wound.

Claudia opened her eyes again and looked at her squad mates who were circled around her, looking down at Claudia, worried and scared for her.

"Is...is anyone else...hit??" asked Claudia weakly, and everyone shook their heads.

"No we're fine Claudia, and you will be too!." said Aika, placing her hand ontop of Claudia hand.

"Your gonna make it kid, stay with us." said Noce

But Claudia just smiled, "Oh, good...it's...only me...dying. Finally my luck...has changed." said Claudia weakly, her eyelids starting to Close.

"Claudia you have to stay awake!!." said Aika.

"It's alright, I'm just happy to know that at least this time...I won't lose my entire squad, I'm the only one who's going to die now." said Claudia, closing her eyes.

"Come on guys, we can't stay here, into the woods NOW!!." said Juno.

"We have to get Claudia back to Fina the Medic, she won't last much longer." said Aika.

She and the rest of the group then headed away from the road, deep into the woods.

But they came upon a small cliff face, blocking their way, they also couldn't climb it with Claudia injured and they certainly wouldn't leave her behind.

So for nearly an hour they bravely kept the enemy at bay, seems the enemy wasn't going to divert tanks or lancers to attack them, they seemed to be more interested in heading in the direction of where Squad 7 was camped. Only scouts and shock troopers were attacking Aika's group.

"Running low on ammo here..." said Noce, loading his last ammo clip into his weapon.

"I've only got about 4 shots left." said Juno.

Dallas's rifle rounds were gone, she was on the last few bullets of her sidearm pistol.

Aika only had 3 rounds left in her rifle, "I didn't think it would end like this..." thought Aika, closing her eyes.

"Here they come again!!." cried Juno as another enemy wave came at them.

The members then fired the last of their rounds at the enemy, and one by one their guns began to emit only clicks as they pulled their triggers, all were empty now. Everyone looked at each other, their faces covered in sweat, dirt and grime.

And one by one, they closed their eyes and pictured their loved one in their head.

Noce was angry, "Damn it Welkin!, This...This is your fault!!. Alicia...Darling, I...hoped I'd...see you." said Noce softly, tears forming in his eyes

Juno sighed Sadly, "Welkin...I always thought...that you and I...you and I might..." unable to finish her sentence as she began to cry.

Dallas stayed with Claudia, and took out her shovel to use as a weapon when the enemy came, but even she too was scared, knowing they were about to die. "Alicia...Miss Alicia...where are you, I'm scared...I don't want to...leave you."

Aika was the last to say her goodbyes as she closed her eyes and pictured Vyse, "I can't...leave you...Vyse. I wonder...if I'll...be a ghost. Then I can be there by your side...always." said Aika softly,

She then took off her goggles, given to her by Nadine and looked down at them in her hand. "Nadine...oh Nadine...I am SO sorry!!. I never should of hurt you by getting angry at you and by calling you a dark-hair, I don't want us to leave...like this. Please...take good care of Vyse...for me." Aika Prayed, tears streaming down her cheeks.

And from the Imperial side an officer shouted, "They're out of ammo, CHARGE THEM!!." and all at once, over a dozen Imperial soldiers came out from their cover and charged towards Aika and her group.

Even though defeat was inevitable, everyone grabbed ahold of their guns and got ready to defend themselves. The Imperial troops then reached them and everyone began to bravely fight for their lives. But we're being knocked to the ground one by one.

An Imperial soldier smashed his rifle butt into Juno's face and she fell to the ground. Two soldiers took Noce down to the ground and began to hit him hard with their guns. Dallas was bravely defending Claudia, hitting Imperials with her shovel, before she was tackled to the ground and beaten on.

And lastly...poor Aika was hit hard in the back of the head with a blunt object and fell to the ground, her vision getting blurry as her eyelids began to close.

"Un...uh...V-Vyse..." said Aika, before her world turned to darkness.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22- **

Vyse was pacing back and forth outside of the squad's tent, checking his watch every now and then. It had been over 2 hours now and Aika still had not returned from the patrol she was sent on.

"_It's been too much time...way too much time_." thought Vyse, "_That does it, I'm going to have to go and see the Lieutenant about this_.", and with that Vyse set off to find Welkin, spotting his tank not too far off he quickened his pace.

But as he got closer, a violent explosion went off, followed by a bright blue glow. It was a ragnite mortar explosion and it went off within the camp limits. Soldiers from Squad 7 were exiting the many nearby tents and grabbing their rifles.

"What in the world was that!!." asked Aisha as she ran up to Vyse.

Vyse looked around, "I'm not sure, but it couldn't of been good." said Vyse.

Just then Largo, Rosie and Isara came running into the camp, "The Lieutenant and Alicia have disappear, they may have been thrown over the edge of a small drop off into the forest below. We have to go and find them." shouted Largo, panic on his face.

But before anyone could do so, gunfire erupted from behind them, which was the nearby road where Aika and her group had gone down nearly 3 hours ago. And Vyse looked at the numerous soldiers and tanks taking cover from the forest trees along the sides of the roads and only one thought came to mind.

"Aika....AIKA!!!." shouted Vyse, fear creeping into his heart, realizing that Aika had gone down that same road before. But now there was only dozens of Imperials soldiers setting up their defences, holding up for the long fight that would be against Squad 7.

But just as he was about to run off, Largo grabbed him by the back of his shirt. "Listen kid, we have other matters to attend to, like finding the Lieutenant, without him there is no one to operate the Edelweiss." said Largo, holding onto Vyse with one hand as he was trying to break free.

"But Aika!, Aika and the others went down that Road. What if something happened to them!!." shouted Vyse.

"You think I don't know that, But with Welkin gone, I'm next in Command and I order you to remain here and begin setting up defensive positions, while Rosie, Isara and I go and search for the Lieutenant, Got that??." said Largo, letting go of Vyse

Vyse took a deep breath and looked back at Largo, "Yes...Sir..." he said, giving a weak salute.

Both sides exchanged short bursts of gunfire every few minutes, but neither side commenced a full blown charge to the other. Squad 7 was set up amongst trees, hills, sandbags and afew scattered Fox holes here and there. while the Imperials were behind sandbags and hiding amongst the forest trees. And both sides remained where they, the battle lines were now drawn as night began to fall, the stars appearing in a clear, dark sky.

The shocktrooopers, lancers and scouts were on the small frontline, keeping an eye out for Imperials while Largo, Rosie and the snipers and engineers were still looking for Welkin and Alicia who had gone missing when the first shots were fired.

Meanwhile, Vyse was back in the medical tent, which had been moved far back from the original camp, where both sides were now set up for a major fight anytime soon. He was sitting next to Nadine, who was out of the fight, due to her broken leg from before. Neither of them said anything as they sat next to each other in silence.

Nadine was the first to speak, "Don't worry Vyse, I'm sure she's fine. She's a pretty strong girl you know." said Nadine, patting Vyse on the shoulder.

"This is all my fault...And I have to do something about it." said Vyse, raising his head finally.

"Vyse...what are you going to do??." asked Nadine, sitting up in her bed.

"Nadine I...I to go and find her, I have to bring her back." said Vyse.

"Vyse that's crazy, you'll never make it past those Imperials blocking the way." warned Nadine, a look of concern on her face.

"I just can't sit her while my best friend is out there...she needs my help." said Vyse, "I'm going to go and find her now.", and Vyse got up and began to walk out of the tent.

"VYSE!!." Nadine called out, and Vyse turned around.

"I understand how you feel, but you can't go out there, you'll die."

"I'm going and please don't try to stop me, if your my friend you'll keep quiet, for me."

Nadine nodded sadly, "Alright, If I could go with you I would...but this leg of mine." said Nadine patting her broken leg softly.

Vyse nodded, "I know you would Nadine, and I appreciate that. But this is just something that I have to do. I have to go and find her, try and bring her back here." said Vyse, waving good-bye to Nadine before he left the medical tent. Nadine lowered her head sadly as she watched Vyse leave...maybe for the last time.

For the next hour Vyse began walking up and down the line, carefully scouting out the Imperials line across from them, searching for any weakness or possible gaps. And soon he found one, on the far left flank of their line. A spot that was only guarded by an idle tank and 4 or 5 soldiers, 2 scouts and 3 shock troopers who were patrolling the area. It was here he'd make his move.

Vyse then began searching for Cathrine O'Hara and Marina Wulfstan, the snipers of squad 7. Soon he found them, huddled together in a fox hole, a tiny fire between them. Cathrine O'Hara was warming a small canteen cup of tea and little biscuts over the fire, tea seemed to be a favorite drink of hers from home, where others spoke with the same accent she had.

Vyse then jumped down and joined them in the fox hole, both of the girls looked over at him, curious. Cathrine casually took a bite out of her small biscut and began chewing.

"Ok...what is a shock trooper and a male doing in the snipers fox hole??." she asked with a mouthful of biscut, checking on her tea once again.

"Listen...I have an extremely big favor to ask fo you." said Vyse, Cathrine and Marina continued looking at him with their full attention now.

"My best friend is out there, somewhere behind the Imperial lines and I...I have to go and find her. She means the world to me." asked Vyse.

"Your blooming crazy you know that." said Cathrine, picking up her canteen and stirring the tea inside, "And even if we agreed, it'd be going against orders you know that??."

"Yes I know, but I'm willing to risk it for her." said Vyse.

"You may be willing, but we'd also get into trouble." said Marina. She then took a bite out of her biscut as well.

Vyse then ripped off his corporal patch on his sleeve and threw it to the ground, "I'll take full responsibility for this request, just tell them I ordered you to...this rank means nothing to me if I lose her." said Vyse.

Cathrine slowly took a sip of her steaming hot tea and looked over at Marina with her bright blue eyes. Marina didn't say anything, she just nodded.

"Alright, we'll help you, it's the least we could do for a fellow squadmate." said Cathrine, "And I do hope you find her, it's alot to risk both against the Imperials and against Largo.", she then set her little canteen cup aside and grabbing ahold of her sniper rifle.

"You realize your most likely going to your death." warned Marina, reaching over and grabbing her sniper rifle.

"I do, but for her I would risk life and death anytime." said Vyse, getting up and together all 3 left their small foxhole, Vyse leading them to the far edge of the Imperial line. And once they got there, Vyse began taking off his battle gear armor, stripping down until he was just in his plain, unprotected uniform, no pads, armor or anything that would make any noise. He also taped anything that would rattle on his machine gun and removed the shoulder straps.

Meanwhile Cathrine and Marina were setting up on a high ridge, not far from Vyse's location. Cathrine would be the first to fire, hitting the closest targets, while leaving the further targets for Marina. Marina was very skilled at picking out targets in the dark, her training she received from her father at a young age allowed her to pick out even the most hidden of targets in the darkest of forests. She could even spot a squirrel feeding on a chestnut, hidden amongst the branches of a tree, about 100 yards away without using her scope.

Vyse got down low behind some bushes, looked over them very carefully and spotted 2 Imperial soldiers patrolling the area, while the other 3 were sitting around a small open fire, a short distance behind were talking, laughing and roasting some food over the flames, their plate armor and helmets removed.

Vyse got low and said a quick prayer, before looking over his shoulder and waving up to Cathrine and Marina. Both girls gave a thumbs up and got into a prone position on the ridges edge, loading bullets into their rifles and moving their eye up to their scopes.

"Alright...here goes!" thought Vyse and he got up from his hiding space and began to run towards the Imperials.

One of the guards on patrol spotted Vyse and raised his rifle up, "HALT!!" he ordered, following Vyses movements with his rifle, the other guard also joined him in aiming at Vyse, ordering him to stop. But just then a gunshot went off and one of the soldiers was hit in the chest, crying out before falling backwards onto the ground. The other looked over and a second later was hit in the side of the head by a bullet, falling back as well just as Vyse reached them, then leaped over their fallen bodies, and continued on.

The three guards around the campfire stood up and looked around, hearing gunshots not too long ago. Soon they spotted a Gallian soldier, making a mad dash towards them. Two of the soldiers grabbed their guns and raised them up just as Vyse ran past them. One fired off a shot, but missed. He himself was then struck in the back by an unseen shooter and fell forward. The next soldier aimed his rifle at Vyses back was just about to pull the trigger, but was hit in the back of the head by a whizzing bullet, he fell forward, hitting the ground hard, dead.

The last Imperial soldier could not find his rifle, so instead he grabbed a nearby hatchet they had used to cut firewood and began to chase after Vyse, Now hot on his heels, both were running as fast as they could.

Meanwhile back on the ridge, Cathrine O'Hara set down her sniper rifle and took out a pair of binoculars. She then spotted the Imperial soldier chasing Vyse with a hatchet. But both figures were now very far away, a shot that she could never make.

Cathrine lowered the binoculars and looked over at Marina, who was looking through her rifle scope, finger against the trigger. But not squeezing off a shot.

"Come on Marina, he's getting closer to Vyse." urged Cathrine

But Marina was steady as a rock, slowing moving her barrel along with her target. The shot was now looking impossible, the two figures were now mere specks in the distance, trees, branches and other objects getting in the way of Marina's shot as Vyse darted left and right, trying to shake the Imperial soldier chasing him. Worse yet, she'd have to hit a moving target. But still, she continued to look through her scope with an unblinking eye, slowing her breathing, applying steady pressure against the trigger.

BANG!!, her rifle fired off a shot and the bullet exited the barrel and began spinning towards the two figures, sailing towards it's target.

Vyse heard the Imperial soldier yell in rage as he raised the hatchet high as he continued to chase Vyse, Vyse looked over his shoulder just in time to see the soldier get struck in the back and see his chest explode as the bullet exited through, he then fell forward and rolled along the ground, dead.

Vyse smiled, as he was now in the clear and continued on through the dark forest. Marina had made the seemingly impossible shot.

Back on the ridge, Marina pulled the bolt back and the smoking bullet cartridge came spinning out of barrel, hitting the ground next to her as Marina looked away from her scope, watching Vyse disappear into the distance.

"Good luck." she whispered, sliding the bolt forward again.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23- A loss so overwhelming....**

Vyse cautiously moved through the dark forest, moving from tree to tree, bush to bush. There were some scattered Imperial patrols here and there, but they were sticking mainly to the road. While Vyse was moving along the forest trees alongside the road.

Not long after he found the a spot where there was some craters created possibly by mortar rounds. What he found next terrified him, there was some blood on the road, along with the impression of a body that was laying there. With no Imperials around, Vyse headed out to the road and examined the area, seeing multiple boot prints, blood and spent bullet cartridges.

"A battle went on here...someone was injured." thought Vyse, his outdoor adventerous lifestyle made him an expert tracker, able to tell what went on just from looking at his surroundings.

Next he looked at where the blood trail went to, following the boot prints and drops of blood. "The group ran...they ran into the forest.", and Vyse continued following the boot prints and blood trail, now he could tell where they stepped and passed through just by looking at broken branches, patted down grass and mud prints.

Off in the distance, he heard faint voices, evil laughter and some kind of struggle. This made him quicken his pace as he ran to find what was going on. And what he found was terrible.

Four Imperial soldiers, 1 officer and 3 guards were beating up Noce Wordsworth, hitting him with their rifle butts, fists and boots. He was trying to fight back, but with three on one, the odds were unfair. When Noce tried to fight someone in front of him, the two others would attack him from behind.

Vyse raised his machine gun up, but decided against it. It would only alert anymore nearby Imperial soldiers, so he set his machine gun down and moved closer, moving from bush to bush. but what he saw next caused his mouth to drop open, his heart skipping a beat.

As Noce was pushed by one of the soldiers towards the officer, he was stabbed in the chest with a large hunting knife the officer had taken off of his belt.

Noce dropped to his knees, knife still in his chest, the blade all the way in, only the handle was visible now. The three Imperials soldiers gathered together infront of him, the officer slowly pulling out a handgun and cocking it back slowly.

"Well that was fun, but looks like it's time to finish it.", the soldiers around him laughing evilly as they looked down at Noce, bent forward, breathing hard. Noce slowly looked up and saw the Imperial Officer take aim at Noce's head, smiling as he wrapped his finger around the trigger.

Just then he was tackled hard from the side as Vyse rushed in and saved Noce, who had fallen backwards and was laying on the ground.

"What!, Another Gallian rat!!" shouted one of the soldiers, and he rushed at Vyse. But Vyse took out his Bayonet and threw it at the approaching soldier, hitting him in the chest, he fell back and died.

One of the other soldiers jumped on top of Vyse and together they wrestled on the ground. One more soldier was rushing at Vyse, his back fully exposed as he charged him with his rifle, bayonet fixed on the end. Vyse looked over his shoulder and swung the soldier he was wrestling with around, so that now his back was facing the charging Imperial soldier. The soldier was then stabbed through the back with the bayonet from soldier on his own side.

The officer was back on his feet, taking out his sword that the officers carry and started running towards Vyse. Who was now fighting with the last Imperial soldier still alive, the soldier had him on the ground, choking him. Vyse struggled for abit, but then looked over to his side and saw a large tree branch next to him, so he reached over, grabbed and smashed the branch into the side of the Imperial soldiers head, knocking the soldier off of him. He then got on top of the soldier and began hitting him with the branch over and over again.

But from behind him, "DIE GALLIAN PIG!!." screamed the officer, sword raised high, ready to bring it down on Vyse. BANG!, a gunshot went off and the Imperial Officer froze, just staring straight ahead. His sword then fell out of his hand and he fell face forward into the ground, dead.

And once the officer fell, Vyse saw Noce, sitting with his back against a nearby tree, holding a rifle, end of the barrel smoking. Noce wasn't looking good, he was breathing heavily, sweat on his face, the knife still in his chest.

"Oh no..." thought Vyse, getting up and running over to Noce.

He then reached him and knelt down on one knee beside him, "The girls...they took the girls!." said Noce, his face becoming pale.

"Hold still..." said Vyse, looking down at the knife still inside Noce's chest. There wasn't much he could do sadly.

"Aika...where is Aika??." asked Vyse

"Forgive me...I couldn't do anything. The Imperials took them away, I don't know where though. Next they tried to interrogate me about where the rest of our squad was.", Noce was trembling as he continued to breath deep.

Off in the distance, they could hear Imperial soldiers shouting, they had heard the gunshot and would soon come to investigate.

Vyse looked over his shoulder, then back at Noce. "Hold on Noce, I'll get us out of here." said Vyse, he then moved his hand towards the knife handle, but Noce grabbed Vyses hand with his own.

"Leave it...it is over...I'm going to die soon...you know that." said Noce, Vyse nodded sadly and held onto Noce's hand, comforting him.

Noce's breathing began to slow, he had stopped trembling now. He closed his eyes "Alicia...Darling...". He then opened them again and looked Vyse in the eyes.

"Go Vyse...the imperials will be here soon." said Noce, but Vyse shook his head.

"No...I can't leave a squad mate behind." said Vyse, still holding onto Noce's hand.

Noce reached up and took off his blue and white Barret hat he always wore and put it into Vyse's hand, closing his fingers around it. "Please...give this to Alicia for me...and tell her that I love her...I've always loved her."

The voices of the Imperials were much closer now, and from the sounds of it, there were many. Vyse's own eyes began to tear up, "I will, I'll make sure she gets it."

"Thank you...", Noce's head began to drop foward slowly, his eyes closing.

"Alicia...Darling..." and with those last words, Noce closed his eyes for the last time.

Vyse lowered his head as well, and looked down at the blue and white Barret in his hands. Quickly he removed Noce's dog tags and headed off, it tore his heart out to have to leave Noce behind. But he had left just in the nick of time as about a dozen Imperial soldiers showed up afew seconds later.

Aika was now out of his reach, he did not know where to begin searching, so broken hearted he made his way back to camp, dawn was approaching now. The sky was orange, red and slight pink as the sun began to rise.

As Vyse got closer to camp, gunfire was already being exchanged between the two sides as they were engaged in battle. Vyse slowly made his way towards the camp, he was behind the Imperials line, not a good place to be now that the fighting was going on.

Not far away, up on a ridge, Cezary Regard of Squad 1, which had come to support Squad 7 was sniping off enemy soldiers. But what he saw next made his eyes open wide in surprise. It was Vyse Inglebard, crouching behind a fallen tree.

Cezary looked to his left, then his right, the other Gallian Soldiers were pre-occupied, shooting at the Imperials across from them. And an evil smile spread across his face.

"They'll never know who shot him." thought Cezary, moving his eye forward, looking through his scope. He then placed his cross hairs over Vyse, placed his finger against the trigger and fired off a shot.

But by a stroke of luck, Vyse moved slightly to the left and the bullet sliced across his arm, creating a large gash across his right arm.

"Damn!." said Vyse through clenched teeth, grasping his arm with his hand. He then fell back behind the tree and remained hidden.

Back on the ridge, "Damn...missed." thought Cezary, pulling his rifle bolt back, ejecting the spent cartridge and loading another into the chamber. He then looked through his scope once more and searched for Vyse. Who was now moving to get behind another tree close by.

Cezary fired off another round, but it struck the tree instead, missing Vyse by a mere inch or 2. Again Cezary pulled the bolt back and loaded another round into his chamber.

"Third times a charm." said Cezary, smiling as he placed the cross hairs directly over Vyse once more.

Cezary's gun was then knocked from his hands as a bullet struck the wooden stock, near the scope. Small splinters of wood struck him in the face as he moved his hands up to his face and began yelling in pain. He moved his hands away and looked to where the shot came from.

Marina Wulfstan was aiming her sniper rifle at Cezary, making sure he didn't move. While Cathrine O'Hara was running towards Cezary, drawing her side arm pistol and aiming it down at him.

"We saw what you did, you'll have to answer for that now." said Cathrine, aiming her side arm pistol at Cezary.

Cezary, splinters still in his face, clenched his teeth together and pounded the ground hard. "Tsk!, damn it..." he said.

Meanwhile Vyse was wrapping a bandage around his arm as he continued to hide, just then he heard a tank fire off a shell, then another and the Imperials began to run away.

"That giant tank is back, retreat!!." shouted an officer, and soldiers began to appear from fox holes, trees and the bushes they were hiding in. and were running as fast as they could, while explosions from shells fired by the Edelweiss's turret struck the ground, tanks and trees around them.

"Looks like the lieutenant is back." thought Vyse with a smile, he then got up from his hiding place, the last of the Imperials were now gone and he headed back into camp.

Though he didn't get a very warm welcome back, instead Largo stomped towards Vyse, fists clenched. "Where the Hell did you go!!." shouted Largo.

"Someone had to go look for the lost members of the squad." said Vyse plainly.

Largo shook his head, "Oh no, don't you play hot shot with me. You disobeyed a direct order and went AWOL on us." shouted Largo.

"Largo, that's enough, he was just looking for a friend." said Welkin as he and Alicia approached the two men. "I'm sorry about what happened, it seems the Imperials let the other squads through and were waiting for us. It was a trap and we fell right into it."

Vyse then looked over at Alicia and a great sadness spread over his face, she took notice immediately. "Hmmm..what's wrong??." she asked.

Vyse took Alicia by the hand and led her a short distance away, near the Edelweiss. Largo and Welkin looked on. They noticed Vyse pull something out of his jacket pocket and show it to Alicia. She brought her hands up to her face, cupping them over her mouth and began to shake her head. Vyse handed the blue and white Barrett to Alicia, she looked down at it with teary eyes and took it from Vyse. She brought it close to her face and began to weep softly into the material as she held it against her face.

Alicia's legs gave out from her under her, falling to her knees and she threw her head back, "AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH~!!" she shrieked, "NOCE~~!!", Vyse lowered his head sadly as well.

Nadine then appeared from the nearby medical tent, now able to walk with the aid of some wooden crutches and she moved towards Vyse.

"Vyse...Aika??." was all she asked once she reached Vyse.

It was only now, after all the adrenaline was gone from his body, that the full impact of what he found out hit him.

"She....She's gone..." was all Vyse could say as he trembled in anger and sorrow, "She's gone....", even he himself could not believe he was saying those words about his best friend, Aika Thompson.

"Oh...Vyse, I'm so sorry." said Nadine, letting go of her crutches, which fell to the ground. She then wrapped her arms around Vyse from behind as he continued to shake, tears falling from his eyes.

"She's gone..." said Vyse again, still looking straight ahead, tears falling from his eyes as Nadine hugged him from behind.

Vyses legs shook and he fell to his knees, Nadine falling with him, ignoring the pain in her leg as she began to cry with Vyse. Vyse finally broke down, emitting loud sobs of pain and sorrow. "She's gone!!" cried Vyse, punching the ground hard.

The camp was a sad place that day, full of tears, sadness and pain. There wasn't 1 person in the camp who didn't cry for the ones they lost that day. All around the camp, people were crying in groups or alone.

Vyse was sobbing on the ground, with Nadine holding onto him. Alicia had her face buried in Welkins shoulder as she wept for Noce. Welkin was softly stroking her long brown hair, some tears fall from his own eyes as he cried for Juno Coren. One of his best and oldest friends from University.

Aisha Neuman then ran up to Welkin and began pulling on his arm, "Please Mr. Welkin, we have to go and find Claudia!!." she said with tears in her eyes.

"Aisha...she's gone." said Welkin, streaks of tears visible on his face.

Aisha shook her head, "NO!, Don't you say that!!." cried Aisha, pounding her fists against Welkins body, "Don't....say that...", Welkin closed his eyes and pulled Aisha towards him, letting her cry against his body.

The loss that day was tremendous...Noce wordswoth, Dallas Wyatt, Claudia Mann, Juno Coren and Aika Thompson...all gone, all lost.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24- Over here and Over There**

It had been 3 weeks since Aika and the others had gone missing. Noce's funeral was a very sad event as well for the entire squad. It was their first real loss of the war, the 4 others going missing were just as devastating to the squads moral. So Captain Varrot, had given permission for Squad 7 to take a break from the fighting.

Vyse Inglebard, who was in Squad 7's barracks back at the military base outside of Randgriz. He was playing a slow, sad song on a large golden, harmonica he always carried with him. The time it took him and Aika to travel from country to country on their adventures gave alot of time for Vyse to invest in becoming a good harmonica player.

Nadine, who's leg had come along way through intense rehabilitation and sheer will power, was able to walk again, a slight limp in her step though. But still, she carried no crutches or even a cane. And as she walked around the Barracks, she was worried about her squad. The laughter and talking that used to fill the barracks during spare time was all but gone. There were no smiled on the other squad members faces as they went about their free time routines.

Cherry, Audrey and Elysse were playing a silent card game. Cathrine was sitting next to Aisha on her bunk, her arm around her shoulder, comforting her as she read Aisha a story book. Edy was holding a large, circular mirror with one hand and fixing her hair and make-up with the other. Karl and Lynn were sitting together on Lynn's bed, just holding hands, no talk between them. Not even Ted could lighten this mood, so he made no effort, he was just writing something in a little book while sitting on his bed and Marina...was being Marina, cleaning her sniper rifle as she laid back in her bed. And all the while Nadine was seeing these things, Vyse was playing his slow, sad tune on his harmonica.

But what worried her most, was how much Vyse had changed, after losing Aika. He was no longer the smiling, confident guy he always was.

Now, he spent much time alone, wondering the base with his hands in his pockets, staring down at the ground as he walked. It was the longest time he had spent away from Aika in his life. And for that he felt guilty, she was always there. And he thought that she always would be...tagging along with him, following him like a little loyal puppy, trailing him like his own shadow does. He felt guilty that he had taken her for granted to much, never thinking that she'd ever leave.

Vyse had talked to Nadine about these things, so concerned, Nadine walked over and sat on the edge of his bunk. She didn't say anything just yet. Rather she waited until he finished playing his sad, sorrowful tune on his harmonica. He then lowered his harmonica and look straight ahead, tapping the harmonica against his raised up knee as he laid in his bunk.

"Vyse...are you ok??" asked Nadine, a rather useless question. As Vyse had just lost his best friend since childhood.

Vyse shook his head no, and Nadine nodded sadly and looked away.

The front doors to the barracks opened up and Captain Varrot appeared, following behind her were Welkin, Alicia and 5 new recruits. The new replacements who would fill in the vacant positions of the missing and lost positions of the poor 5 soldiers who went on the reconnaissance mission in the Kloden Wildwoods and didn't return.

Everyone then came to attention once they saw Captain Varrot, Vyse on the other hand slowly got out from his bottom bunk and came to attention. Varrot noticed and became alittle cconcerned, but turned her attention to the newest recruits.

"Everyone, I would like to introduce you to the replacements that have been assigned to Squad 7." said Varrot, gesturing to the new recruits.

All of them set their dufflebags and guns down, came to the military position of attention and saluted all of the current members.

"Montley Leonard, Scout Class, happy to be joining you all." said Montley, keeping his salute in place

"Nancy Dufour, Scout Class, so good to meet all of you." said Nancy, keeping her arm up as well.

"Mica Hawkins, Shock Trooper Class, Looks like I'll be serving with you all from now on." said Mica, arm kept in a salute as well, waiting for the others to finish.

"Homer Peron, Engineer Class, here to fight with you until this war claims my life..." said Homer, clearly a pessimist.

and lastly, "Ramsey Clement...Engineer...Uh...Hi..." said Ramsey, as if that one sentence took everything she had just to say it. And at the same time all of the new replacements lowered their arms and went to the military position of at ease.

"Treat them well, for they'll be serving in the place of your old comrades..." said Captain Varrot, "That is all."

Captain Varrot them left and the new recruits began to pick out their bunks. But none of the current members of Squad 7 even bothered to look away from their card game, away from the person they were speaking to before or get up from their bunks to speak to the replacements. Though it was a normal custom in war times to lose squad members and have others come in to take their place, this being most peoples first war, their old wounds of losing good friends had not yet healed.

"_Maybe someone should say something_..." thought Nadine as she looked at the new recruits awkwardly choose their bunks, the previous...owners stuff was still there. Such as old photos of loved ones attached to the bed posts with tape, their foot lockers still full of their stuff, and other personal affects.

But she lowered her head sadly, "_I wish I could do something...but I'm sure the last person who should introduce themselves or that they'd want to meet first is a Darcsen_...".

"HEY!, What do you think your doing!!." shouted a voice from behind her, causing her to jump and once she looked over her shoulder, she saw Vyse getting up quickly from his bunk and walking very quickly over to Nancy Dufour. Who had just set her duffel bag down on top of Aika Thompsons old bottom bunk.

"Oh sorry sir...I was just..." said Nancy, picking up her duffle bag quickly and holding it close to her chest as she looked away in shame.

Vyse walked infront of Aika's bunk and held his arms out to the sides, "Pick another one, this is my best friends bunk." said Vyse.

"Vyse!!." shouted Nadine, running up to him and bringing his arms back down to his sides for him. "I know how you feel, but it's standard procedure for replacements to take old friends bunks."

"No...Aika, she'll...she'll be back." said Vyse, breaking Nadine's gaze by looking away "I know she will and I don't want anything of hers to change, everything will be the same when she gets here."

But now the entire barracks had gone silent, and as Vyse looked around everyone was looking in his directions, including the new replacements.

Finally realizing what he had just done to someone so new, he looked down at the ground. "Sorry...I apologize...go ahead." said Vyse, side stepping past Nancy Dufour and walking towards the entrance doors of the barracks.

Nancy was looking back at Vyse, watching him leave. "He lost one of his bestest friends recently. So please, don't take his actions to heart...we're all still upset and hurting" said Nadine

Nancy nodded, "I know, and I know that I'll never be able to ever 'replace' someone you've all lost from this squad." said Nancy, setting her duffel bag and belongings back onto Aika's bunk.

Later into the night, outside, Vyse was sitting ontop of a large, square wooden box, looking up at the full moon and stars in the sky. He then closed his eyes and sighed loudly.

"Excuse me...sir" said a voice, and Vyse opened his eyes and looked over and saw Nancy standing there before him, hands together infront of her, fidgeting. "Just thought that...um..."

"Hello, sorry about before. I was just...upset is all." said Vyse, still not smiling.

"Just thought that I'd like to come and apologize for setting my stuff down so abruptly. Should of remembered that these beds belonged to someone before me." said Nancy.

"It's alright, I'm the one who should of remembered that replacements would come." said Vyse, "Just that...my best friend is missing, not dead...I hope. So it's not like she'll be gone forever. I've just got to keep believing that one day I'll find her."

"I see, and I know that I'll never be able to replace your friend, but I'll fight with everything I've got." said Nancy.

"Alright, glad to have you with us then." said Vyse, managing a smile for the first time in a long time, he then reached his hand out and shook Nancy's hand. He then looked up at the moon again.

Meanwhile, far far away, in a ragnite mining complex called Fouzen. A young Darcsen girl was wondering around the complex, scared. She had gotten lost again, being a newly captured Darcsen and sent to this place called Fouzen with her mother. So she was still very new to the area, that had many people in it, living on mulitiple levels in the canyon town layout.

"Mommy!." she called as she looked from side to side while running past people walking around the area, "Mommy!!.", just then she ran into something solid, hitting it before falling back onto the ground.

"GAH...damn Dark-haired Brat!." said an Imperial guard, the other two guards with him began to laugh out loud.

"Oh man...now you've got dark-hair grease all over your uniform." teased one soldier, slapping him on the back.

"That'll never come out now, best to just burn it now after being touched by such dark, oily hair."

The enraged soldier then stood over the young Darcsen girl and glared down at her. "Why don't you watch where your going!!.", he then raised his hand up and looked ready to smack the young, frightened girl across the cheek.

"Ah!." cried out the Darcsen girl, closing her eyes and looking away

But just then someone grabbed his wrist and stopped him, he looked over and saw a short girl with orange/reddish colored hair and light brown eyes looking into his own.

"Take it easy boss, she's just lost and frightened, that's all. I'll take her from here, back to the housing complexes." she said.

The guard scoffed then pulled his hand away, "Damn foreigners...ain't no better then Dark-hairs anyways. Best to let a rat lead a rat away." said the Imp soldier, he then turned around and began to walk away, the two other soldiers following behind him.

The little Darcsen girl looked up at this new girl, but then closed her eyes and held her arms up when she saw her reaching down for her. But once again her eyes opened wide in surprise when she felt the kind girl wrap her arms around her, pick her up and hold onto her. "Oh...oh..." she said, looking up into this kind girls eyes.

"Hey little one, get separated from your mother??" she asked, while walking back to the housing complexes, carrying the small girl in her arms.

The little girl wrapped her arms around the kind girls neck and nodded again, she then began to run her hands through her hair. "Your hair is not dark like ours...but yet, you are kind??." she said.

"Yep, that's right!." she said, "The names Aika, Aika Thompson and your name little one??." asked Aika, smiling brightly at the little girl.

The little girl smiled now as well, happy to be in such a kind girls arms. "I'm Hanna, thank you for Rescuing me."

Just then a worried older woman was running around the area, "Hanna!!, Hanna where are you!!." she shouted, but then spotted Aika carrying her little girl in her arms.

Quickly she ran up to her and took her from Aika's arms, "Oh thank you, thank you so much for finding my little darling girl." said the mother, kissing her child on the cheek and slowly rocking her in her arms.

"No problem, it's what we militia folk do." said Aika, saluting the mother and the child.

Hanna smiled and mimicked the salute that Aika had just given her, the mother chuckled happily. "Your very kind to us Darcsens, and for that I'm grateful" said the mother.

Aika chuckled as well, "There was a Darcsen girl back in my old squad and she..." Aika smiled brightly, "She was and still is one of my best friends and her name is Nadine."

Aika then lead the Darcsen mother and child to the housing areas, where everyone who worked in the mines was put.

Once she got there she showed them to a bunk and patted the little girl on the head before going to her area, near the back of the same house. and sitting together were Juno, Dallas and Claudia. All were sitting in a circle talking amongst themselves.

"Well, how goes it??." asked Juno Coren, putting a checklist of items back on the floor. She had hid it behind her back when Aika and the two girls who was with her entered the house.

"Great, got the compass, just like you asked for." said Aika, reaching into her pocket and tossing the newly acquired piece of equipment to Juno, "Swiped it right off of an Imperial soldiers belt, didn't even notice it go missing".

Claudia laughed, but clutched her chest area in pain. "Take it easy Claudia, that bullet wound still hasn't fully healed yet, right??." asked Dallas, placing her hand on top of Claudia's shoulder.

"No...still can't believe those Imperials fixed me up, just to bring me here to fix THEIR equipment and tanks for them." said Claudia, "Such a strange fate, to be fixing the enemies equipment for them now."

Dallas leaned in close, "Remember, we're not supposed to be fixing their stuff for them. We're supposed to sabotage little things here and there, keep the enemy from being able to fight full strength when the fouzen resistance makes their move."

"I hope it's soon, working these mines is tough, back breaking labor and I'm just a scout." said Juno Coren, rubbing her sore shoulders and back.

"Keep at it and we'll be out of here soon enough." said Aika, patting everyone on the backs.


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25- Daring dock rescue**

Vyse was standing behind Captain Varrot, with Welkin, Alicia and Nadine close by. They were standing in front of a cell that was opening inside of a Military Police Compound. And stepping out, was Cezary Regard. Once he was out, he came to attention in front of Captain Varrot and saluted her.

"After 4 weeks, I have decided that you have spent enough time in the stockades, for attacking another comrade." said Varrot, saluting Cezary back, "But I think an apology is in order."

Cezary rubbed the back of his neck, looked down at the ground, and walked up to Vyse. "Look Sorry man, I just...you know, thought that you were an Imperial spy...you know, killed some Gallian for that uniform and was trying to get to sneak into our camp.", Cezary then extended his hand out to Vyse.

Vyse looked down at his hand, then shook his head and scoffed, "Tsk...sure you did Cezary." said Vyse plainly, turning around and walking away without shaking his hand. Nadine glared at Cezary and followed Vyse back outside.

"Well, I mean, what was he doing behind the Imperial Lines anyways??." asked Cezary.

"Performing another selfless act, he risked his life yet again to try and help fellow Comrades in danger. So he alone, crossed the Imperial lines to try and find his friend Aika Thompson and the others." said Welkin, "I am honored to have him on my team."

Captain varrot then exited the building and found Vyse outside. "Corporal Inglebard, might I have a word." asked Varrot, Vyse sighed and walked up to Varrot and managed a half-hearted salute.

"Corporal Vyse Inglbard, I've been thinking... it has been 4 weeks now since Aika has gone missing. And you still seem in down spirits." said Varrot, "If you so wish, I give you permission to leave the Militia and go home if you so desire."

Vyse tilted his head, "Ma'am?"

"It's just that...Aika Thompson made a similar request. She wanted to go home, but I denied her that request." explained Varrot, looking down and to the left sadly, "Perhaps I should of granted her that request, I seemed to forget at that moment that you two were foreign volunteers...I...I made a mistake."

Vyse looked away and sighed, "Maybe we all did..." said Vyse, "When we first arrived, we heard that a war had broken out and we...or rather I wanted to join in it for the adventure. But Aika...she didn't even want to come...I talked her into it."

Captain Varrot nodded, "So tell me, do you wish to go home??." asked Varrot.

Vyse shook his head, "No...I'm not going anywhere without Aika by my side." said Vyse, "She's still out there somewhere, alive. And I will not leave until I find her."

"Very well, and I do hope that you find your friend." said Varrot, saluting Vyse once more before departing.

Later into the night, while Welkin and the other senior officers of Squad 7 were at Castel Rangriz attending both an awards ceremony and a supposed truce offering between the Federation and Gallia. Vyse was sitting on a chair with Nadine, Kreis, Leon and Isara across from him inside the tank hanger, but rather then a tank the girls were working on some kind of flying machine.

And as Vyse watched one thought came to mind, "These people do not know how to fly yet??".

But just as he finished that thought an alarm began to blare loudly over and over again. Isara, Kreis and Nadine both stood up and began to look around.

"What's going on??" asked Kreis

"That's the emergency Alarm...what could be going on at this hour??." replied Leon.

"I don't know, but whatever it is it sounds urgent, let's ready the Edelweiss." said Isara as she climbed up the tank treads and disappeared into the tank hatch, while Kreis, Leon and Isara began to prep the Edelweiss for departure.

Just then a Gallian Soldier came running into the hanger, "Emergency!, Princess Cordelia has been kidnapped by Federation operatives."

Welkin, Alicia and the other senior officers appeared hot on the Gallian soldiers heels.

"Alright 7's, the Princess has been kidnapped and it's up to us to get her back. They'll be close to the docks by now. If they get her onto one of the ships stationed there...it'll all be over."

However, most of the Squad were out on their free time. And it would take far too much time to wait for the rest of the squad to gather. So that left only Nadine, Rosie, Largo, Vyse, Nancy, Mica and Montley who were hanging out in the hanger as the ones who would join Welkin, Isara and Alicia on their rescue mission.

Once the Edelweiss was up and running, everyone hopped onto the giant tank.

"Ok guys, hang on and I mean hang on for dear life!." said Isara, "I'm going to drive as fast as this thing can go."

"Hold...on??." thought Vyse and he looked around and grabbed onto a nearby strap that was holding backpacks and other gear into place on top of the Edelweiss.

And sure enough once the Edelweiss got going and exited the hanger, it made a sharp right turn at high speed, nearly throwing everyone who was riding on top off of the tank. There were afew surprised screams as everyone grabbed even tighter onto what they were holding onto and held on for dear life as the Edelweiss was passing trucks and cars as if they were standing still, while it was rocketing down the two lane road towards the docks.

Soon enough they arrived and everyone hopped off, loaded their guns, cocked the bolts back and took up combat positions on either side of the tank as it drove slowly down the main road of the docks. But the dock layout was extremely complicated. Like a chessboard with the way the roads and lanes were layed out, criss crossing one another in multiple 4 way crossings.

"Alright, everyone split up into groups of two and fan out. Find that vehicle that has the princess and stop it at all costs. If it slips past us, well lose the princess for good." ordered Welkin.

"Yes sir!!." said everyone in unison and everyone picked a partner and headed off in different directions, different roads and began to search.

Vyse and Nadine paired up and began their search, and as they were searching down one road they came across three Gallian soldiers, huddled together, talking quietly.

Curious, Nadine and Vyse made their way over. "Excuse me, but have any of you seen an armored vehicle around here." asked Nadine politely, all of them turned around.

"Tsk...a Darcsen, just ignore her." said one of the soldiers and everyone turned around once more, their backs now facing Nadine.

This angered Vyse, "HEY!, This isn't the time to be disrespectful. The princess has been kidnapped and is somewhere in the dock area inside of an armored Vehicle." yelled Vyse.

"Oh...they're here already...that was fast." said one of the soldiers.

"Well...can't be too many of them, so take em out before others arrive." said another

and all at once, the three soldiers turned around and aimed their rifles and machine guns at Nadine and Vyse. Nadine gasped in surprise, but was then shoved hard by Vyse to the left, while he dived to the right and both were now hidden behind large metal crates as bullets began to pelt the boxes.

And the sound of even more gunfire and explosions began to fill the air. Once the firing stopped Vyse jumped up and began to fire his machine gun at the Gallian soldiers firing at him and Nadine. He killed one and injured another before having to get back behind cover and reload.

Nadine fired her rifle multiple times and dropped the third soldier, but more had arrived, so she ducked again and loaded another clip into her rifle while the Gallian soldiers were still firing at them.

"What's going on!." shouted Nadine over the gunfire, "why are they shooting at us!!."

Vyse's radio attached to his hip came on and a voice was speaking, Vyse took the radio off his belt and held it up to his ear.

"Listen up 7's!, there are Federation Soldiers masking as Gallian Soldiers in the dock area in an attempt to slow us down. Our squad is the only one here now, but with this fog it'll be difficult to spot friendlies from enemy soldiers disguised as Gallians." said Welkin, "So we're going to do a Challenge and reply method to pick out friendlies from foes. The Challenge is "Edel" the answer is "Weiss", got that, don't forget it. I don't want any friendly fire here."

Vyse and Nadine looked at each other and nodded. Vyse quickly looked over the metal crate and fired his machine gun, taking out the other two Federation soldiers who were disguised as Gallian Soldiers.

Nadine got up from behind cover, so did Vyse and together they carefully walked side by side, carefully scanning the area as they moved down the road.

Just then, through the fog, Nadine spotted a figure walking towards them. Nadine stopped, knelt down on one knee and aimed her rifle towards the figure.

"EDEL!" she shouted, her rifle aimed at the figure.

"What?" replied the voice and Nadine quickly pulled the trigger three times and the figure dropped like a rock.

Vyse and Nadine quickly ran up to the figure and looked down at him, it was a Gallian soldier and Nadine began to pray as she searched him. But she held her hand against her chest and breathed a sigh of relief when she pulled up a pair of dog tags attached to a chain around his neck and saw that they were Federation tags.

Just then there was sounds of fast approaching footsteps behind them and Vyse and Nadine quickly swung their guns around and aimed them down the road.

"EDEL!" Challenged Vyse, both he and Nadine never taking their sights off of the two figures.

"WEISS!!" replied a female voice and Vyse and Nadine lowered their guns. A very cautious Nancy Dufour and Mica Hawkins approached them.

"Good to see you guys, this place is crawling with Federation soldiers disguised as Gallians." said Mica.

"Yeah, we've ran into about 2 groups so far. But haven't seen any signs of the armoured car carrying the Princess." said Nancy.

"Listen up 7's, we've spotted the car carrying the princess, it's on the northern sides of the docks. Grenades, and other explosives are off limits, you might injure the princess. Attempt to stop the vehicle some other way. Everyone get here NOW!!." ordered Welkin through Vyses radio and together the four soldiers made their way towards the northern side of the docks. Sporadic gunfire erupted every now and then, but not too much on the northern sides.

And sure enough, through the darkness they saw a very bright pair of headlights driving down the road towards them. The vehicle then stopped at a 4 way intersection and 3 Gallian soldiers surrounded the vehicle on the front, left and right sides and slowly began to walk forward, guarding the vehicle as it drove slowly.

All 4 Militia soldiers aimed their guns towards the enemy soldiers and fired afew second burst and the three Federation soldiers dropped to the ground, dead.

"Now's our chance!" shouted Mica, "Let's go rescue the princess!!." and he took off running towards the vehicle

"Wait Mica NO!!" cried Nadine.

But the Vehicle had teeth of it's own, as a burst of machine gun fire from a turret attached to the front of the vehicle cut down Mica in a hail of bullets and he dropped to the ground and didn't move.

Everyone else ducked behind some metal crates and waited. The vehicle then began to drive forward again, cautiously. Nadine tried to peak her head over again but the vehicle fired off another burst of gunfire and she pulled her head back just in time as the crates they were hiding behind were pelted with bullets.

"Dang...we can't even get close to that thing...what'll we do??." asked Nancy, her gun shaking in her trembling hands.

"Wait, I've got an idea." said Vyse, taking a grenade off of his belt.

"Wait Vyse!, we're not authorized to use grenades, there is far too great of a risk of injuring the princess." warned Nadine.

"I'm not going to throw it at the vehicle." said Vyse, tinkering with the grenade in his hands. "I'm going to set the intensity to as high as it can go. Remember, these grenades have ragnite elements inside of them. They already give off a bright flash of blue in broad daylight."

"I see...so if we set the explosive yield high enough and set it off in this darkness...it'll be like a flash bang grenade." said Nadine, hand against her chin.

"Right, but the blast will be big...so let's get some distance between us and the armoured car." said Vyse, finishing the modification of removing the safety cap, which limited the yield of the explosive from being too great.

And together, Nadine, Vyse and Nancy ran away from the approaching armoured car, bullets flying over their heads and past them as they ran. And soon enough they were quite far from the armoured car, but were close to the docks as well. If this plan didn't work, the vehicle would slip past them and get to the docks.

"Alright, you ready??." asked Vyse as he knelt behind a bundle of two by fours with Nadine and Nancy. The girls each held onto a grenade and looked over at Vyse.

"But this is going against orders..." said Nancy, she was still very new to the squad as was.

"I'm a corporal, so it's my call. Now get ready to chuck your grenades, but make sure you keep them as far away from the car as you can." said Vyse, he unscrewed the bottom part of the stick grenade and the bottom part came undone, a white string hanging from the hollow hand grip.

"Ok...GO!" shouted Vyse, pulling the safety string until it came out of the grenade, he then threw it over the bundle of two by fours, followed by Nadine and Nancy who threw theirs next.

The following explosions were extremely loud and gave off a blinding flash of blew light as the grenades exploded one after the other. The armoured car came to a halt and Vyse prayed he had been blinded by the light.

"Ok, let's go!!." shouted Vyse. And he was first over the bundle of two by fours, Nadine next and Nancy bringing up the rear as she hopped over last. The three soldiers then made a mad dash towards the truck before the driver regained his vision.

Vyse ran past the truck and hopped onto the back bumper, held onto a rail hanging from the roof and emptied his machine gun into the blue glowing radiator on the back of the armoured car. The radiator shot out some sparks and the blue glow disappeared as the radiator was destroyed.

Nadine and Nancy remained at the driver and passenger side windows and aimed their guns at the people inside.

"Out of the car!!" ordered Nadine.

The Edelweiss then rounded a corner to the girls left side, followed by Rosie, Largo and Alicia as they ran behind it.

The car was now secure, and Nancy lowered her gun and breathed a sigh of relief as Alicia, Largo and Rosie moved in. Her first operation with Squad 7 was a success.

But her attention turned to Mica, who was still laying on the ground, down the road. And she took off as fast as she could, Vyse and Nadine following behind her while Welkin and the other senior officers moved in to rescue the princess.

Nancy then knelt down beside Mica as he shivered, he had atleast half a dozen bullet holes in his body, blood was all over the ground around him. In her heart Nancy knew he wasn't going to make it, but couldn't bring her self to tell him.

"Hang in there Mica, we'll bring help for ya." said Nancy, holding onto one of Mica's hands.

Vyse and Nadine stood just behind her as they looked down at Mica sadly.

"Sir...I ...I'm sorry I screwed things up" said Mica, "I was too impatient..."

"Don't...worry about it. You'll be able to make it up to us if you just hang in there." said Nadine, avoiding looking Mica in the eyes as she said those last few words.

Mica's grip began to weaken around Nancy hands, "I... I'm dying aren't I?" he asked weakly.

Vyse shut his eyes tight and nodded sadly, Mica nodded as his eyelids began to close, "Hope I...come back as less....of a screw-up..."

Mica's eyes then closed and his head fell back against the pavement as his body went limp.

"Oh no..." said Nancy, letting go of Mica's hand and bring them up to her face as she began to shed tears.

"He was so new...and far too young" said Vyse sadly, everyone else nodded.

Nadine grabbed a nearby white blanket off of one of the crates and laid it over Mica Hawkins body. Nadine and Vyse then knelt down and comforted Nancy as she cried.

"War is terrible...does it ever get easier...to lose a comrade?" asked Nancy.

Vyse shook his head, "No...I sure hope it doesn't. It hurts to lose someone, as it should. To feel nothing when someone dies would be terrible."

The sound of laughter from behind them made all three of them look over their shoulders and they saw Princess Cordelia laughing with Welkin and the senior officers.

"So inappropriate..." thought Vyse as he shook his head, the three still gathered around Mica Hawkins dead, covered up body.


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26- Breaching Fouzens walls**

Vyse and the members who had participated in the rescue of Princess Cordelia were inside castle Randgriz. Vyse, Nadine and Nancy were standing at attention just in front of Princess Cordeila, was standing just in front of her throne. And she was handing out medals to each of the members who had stopped the armoured vehicle she was in, there by saving her.

She attached a golden medal, attached to a blue, red and white ribbon to the chest area of Vyse, Nadine and Nancy Dufour. Medals of bravery for their actions in saving Princess Cordelia.

Nancy, who was last to have a medal pinned to her was also given a small square felt pad. Laying onto of the pad was a grey medal, that had a picture of a unicorn with a broken horn and a golden and green ribbon attached. It was known as 'The Splintered Horn' medal, given to honor a fallen member of the squad. Nancy looked at Vyse and Nadine, then looked back at her commander Welkin who was standing just behind her. She couldn't understand why she was getting two.

"That's for Mica Hawkins..." said Welkin, "Make sure his family gets it."

Tears built up in Nancy's eyes, but she nodded her head and blinked them away. Everyone then came to attention and saluted Princess Cordelia after receiving their medals. She bowed low to them and spoke, "May your allegiance to Gallia stand firm, evermore."

The next day, the squad set out to Fouzen with Squads 2 and 3. In an attempt to try and reclaim Fouzen, a ragnite mining complex that was very important to both sides of the war. Whichever side had Fouzen under their control, had access to better resources to fuel their side of the war.

This mission also had deeper meaning to members of the squad like Nadine, Isara and Lynn. The Darcsens of the squad, capturing fouzen would mean liberating dozens, maybe even hundreds of Darcsens who were being used as forced labor. And it was a mission they would gladly volunteer for anyday.

Two days later, all 3 squads had arrived at an arid region, full of canyons and rocks. It was the area just outside of Fouzen. There was no resistance set up, which was odd. Alicia who was riding onto of the Edelweiss, could see large metal cranes ontop of the canyons in the distance through her binoculars. The Fouzen complex was not far now and yet, no Imperials were coming out to meet them.

Tanks from squads 2 and 3 were moving along with Squad 7. Scouts, Shocktroopers, Lancers, Engineers and snipers from all 3 squads were walking alongside the tanks on all sides as everyone advanced forward at a steady pace.

As they marched, Vyse was walking behind the medical truck, Fina was sitting on the back tail gate and the two were talking together. Talking to Fina felt like he was talking to someone he had known all his life. And this helped Vyse feel at ease once more, a relief since all he felt since losing Aika was pain and sadness.

"I've always wanted to ask..." said Fina, "What's up with that eyepatch like thing that you always wear. It makes you look like a pirate.", Fina started to laugh after saying that.

Vyse grinned and chuckled alittle, "Actually there's a funny story behind that. Oh your gonna love it, true story" started Vyse.

But their conversation was interrupted by a most unwelcome sound, KABOOM!!. It sounded like a mortar blast, but it was far louder and more powerful then other mortar sounds they've heard in battle. In fact it was so loud it echoed throughout the canyons. Fina even brought her hands up to her ears to block out the sound of the blast.

Following the blast was a whistling sound, high up in the sky. Vyse looked up to see a very large object flying towards them.

"What is that...is it a bird...or a plane??." thought Vyse, but his eyes grew wide when he realized it was an enormous golden artillery round, that was flying through the air like a plane towards them.

Soldiers from all the squads turned 180 degrees and began to run away, yelling and screaming in fear from the giant artillery round. Vyse grabbed Fina by the arm and dragged her out of the medical truck, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and together they began to run as fast as they could. Vyse then looked over his shoulder and saw the artillery round then split apart in the air and release numerous smaller bomblets...the artillery round was infact a giant cluster bomb.

The bomblets then rained down upon the Gallian soldiers, throwing soldiers around like ragdolls, blowing up 2 tanks and destroying the medical truck. Luckily Vyse dove to the ground with Fina and they hit the ground just as the medical truck exploded behind them. Soon after the explosions stopped, but the devastation was terrible. Atleast 15 soldiers were dead, two tanks were gone and the medical truck was destroyed as well.

Vyse looked over to his right and saw that the Edelweiss was still intact and all of his fellow squad 7 soldiers were still alive, they had gathered together around the Edelweiss. Next he heard a voice.

"VYSE!!" screamed a female voice, he looked to the left and saw that it was Nadine, who thankfully was still alive after the deadly cluster bomb attack. She then reached Vyse and Nadine knelt down next to him. "Are you alright?!?"

Vyse nodded, "Yeah, we're fine." said Vyse, getting up, then helping Fina to her feet as well.

Fina looked over and saw many wounded soldiers, "Oh no...hang on guys, I'm coming." shouted Fina.

But another extremely loud KABOOM rang out, and everyone looked towards the Fouzen area in horror, as yet another giant artillery round was flying towards them. Vyse grabbed Fina again just before she took off running towards the injured soldiers and began to drag her away, clearly against her will.

"Let me go!!." she cried, kicking and thrashing as Vyse tried to lead her towards the Edelweiss, "I'm a medic, I have to help them!!". Vyse, Nadine and Fina had reached the Edelweiss and dived behind it and got down as low as they could. Vyse ontop of Fina, protecting her with his own body as he layed ontop of her. Nadine laying on the ground, hands covering the back of her head as the next round of bomblets from the cluster bomb rained down upon squads 2, 3 and 7.

Once the next brutal bombing was finished, Welkin emerged from his tank. "Squad 7 Gather GATHER!!" he ordered and the members of Squad 7 quickly gathered around his tank. "Everyone, hop on, we're getting out of here!!."

And somehow, all twenty members, managed to climb ontop of the giant tank, the Edelweiss and find a place to sit. With Fina the Medic in tow as well. The Edelweiss then drove forward at full speed, which was much faster then the poor tanks from Squads 2 and 3 could drive. A third round from the Imperial artillery was fired and the remaining soldiers from Squad 7 could do nothing but watch it fly over their heads as the Edelweiss sped forward, safe from the next deadly bombing. The other squads weren't so lucky, their tanks far too slow as they pressed on towards Fouzen, the bomblets raining down on them and their soldiers who were fleeing in panic in the other direction.

Tears built up in Fina's eyes and she began to punch Vyse's arms that were wrapped around her, "The men back there need my help, let me go!!." she cried, still hitting Vyse's arms and struggling to get free.

Vyse shook her hard, "You can help them by staying with us!. who'll look after us if you, the only medic goes down!!" shouted Vyse, "If you die, we'll surely lose any members who get injured in the liberation of Fouzen. You have to survive, for all of our comrades who have died today."

Fina looked at Vyse with teary eyes and stopped struggling and fell back in defeat against Vyse as he continued to hold onto her. The Edelweiss had reached the outer cliff area of where Fouzen was. Once they came to a halt, everyone jumped off, but all the members gathered at the back of the Edelweiss and looked at the giant columns of black smoke rising in the far off distance, where so many fellow militia soldiers had died from the cluster bombs fired by the Imperials.

Vyse clenched his teeth together angrily, balling up his right hand into a fist. "Damn Imperials...you'll pay for this" said Vyse through clenched teeth.

Welkin then got out of his tank, and checked his watch, "We're early...and the suns still up. It's too dangerous to move in broad day light...we'll have to wait until nightfall." said Welkin.

All of the members gathered around the tank and rested, some sat on the ground, with their backs against the giant tank treads. Others sat ontop of the Edelweiss and rested. Vyse was comforting Fina ontop of the turret of the Edelweiss, but he turned and saw Nadine, Isara, Lynn and Karl gathered together, talking to each other in hushed whispers.

Curious Vyse leaped off of the Edelweiss and made his way over, "What's up guys??."

"My brother, Welks was wondering on how we were going to get into Fouzen with just us, since the other squads and tanks didn't make it." said Isara, she lowered her head sadly. "We're not strong enough to break through the enemies defenses at the front gates."

"Karl and Lynn used to live and work in Fouzen, so they know the area very well." said Nadine, "I think they know how we can get into the city that doesn't include just waltzing in through the front gates."

"Y-yeah, we've spent alot of our youth hiking and exploring in the canyon's here." said Karl, rubbing the back of his neck. He always seemed to be very nervous, whether talking to friends, superiors or even Lynn, his girlfriend.

"Yes, there was one area, that was almost like a road. I do believe it is wide enough to drive a tank through. And it's far enough away that the Imperials won't see us coming, but it'll also take us right into the Fouzen area." said Lynn confidently.

Isara nodded, "We must get into Fouzen no matter what. There are so many Darcsens living in Fouzen, being used as forced labor...we must rescue them!!" said Isara, her eyebrows furrowed in an angry and determined look. One Vyse had never seen from the always smiling Isara.

"So...what are we waiting for?." asked Vyse

"I-I don't really know if Welkin will go for this idea." said Karl, "The path might not be there anymore, it's been a long time since we last saw it."

"Well go tell him anyways, it's at least a plan, of which we do not have at the moment." said Lynn, giving Karl a push of encouragement towards Welkin, who was talking to Alicia beside the Edelweiss. Karl took a deep breath and walked rather sheepishly and slowly towards Welkin, and without even looking Vyse could tell he was sweating bullets.

"Man...what's up with him. He always seems ready to pass out." said Vyse, Lynn laughed at the comment.

"He may not look it, but he works extremely hard and will do whatever it takes to get a task done." said Lynn, "I think he's spent more time around machinery then he has with people. So being in a squad, surrounded by people all the time puts him on edge. He doesn't want to do or say anything that makes him sound dumb or useless. This whole plan was his idea infact, thought it up himself and everything."

"Well, he just needs to build up come confidence then and he'll do alright." said Vyse.

"Confidence is one thing he's not lacking." Said Lynn, removing her right glove and showing her hand to Vyse, Nadine and Isara. Proudly displaying a golden ring with an impressive looking diamond attached to it "He asked me to marry him and I said Yes, of course.", Lynn gave off a beautiful smile as she said those words.

"Wow...that's...wow." said Vyse

"Congratulations!!." said Isara, shaking Lynns hand briskly

"Be sure to invite us to the wedding." said Nadine

"Well once this war is over and we get married, I'll be sure that you all come to it." said Lynn, putting on her glove once again.

Vyse and the others watched as Karl's lips were moving, explaining the plan to Welkin. But he was also rubbing the back of his neck, a funny habit. And looking down at the ground, rather then up at Welkin. Who had his hand against his chin as he listened to Karl's plan.

"AAHH!" cried Welkin, this caused Karl to yelp in surprised. But next Welkin slapped him on the back "That's a brilliant idea!!, thank you for telling me. Now we stand a chance!!", Welkin laughed happily as he climbed up the tank, he turned and placed his hand against the side of his mouth "ISARA!!"

Isara saw and nodded, "Right, I'm coming" said Isara and she took off running, climbed the Edelweiss and disappeared into the top hatch. The Edelweiss came back to life moments later, the radiator glowing blue and rumbling as it sat running.

Everyone gathered around the tank and Welkin explained Karl's plan to him, and together everyone began to make their way alongside the canyon walls, searching for the said area of Karls plan. Sure enough, a kilometer or two of where they were resting, they found a small curving path, that must of lead towards Fouzen. The path was just wide enough to drive through, but the soldiers had to walk behind the Edelweiss as they was no room on either side of the tank. Sometimes it even rubbed against the canyon path walls as it moved at a snails pace.

The sun was almost gone from the evening sky when the Edelweiss emerged from the curving path and was now inside the Fouzen area. Welkin emerged from the Edelweiss top hatch and looked out at the area.

"This is a pretty complicated layout...this won't be easy." said Welkin.


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27- The Jester and the Wolf**

Welkin and the rest of squad were driving very slowly down a narrow road, next to a very large and deep drop off. The Imperials still did not know that they were inside of Fouzen and they wanted to keep it that way, so they moved with the tank headlights cut and the the tank moving very slowly.

The squad then came up to a large metal bridge, spanning a fast flowing river quite some distance below. And up ahead the road made a large, sharp curve to the right. What lay beyond that, no one could tell. Welkin stopped the tank and stuck his body out of the hatch and scanned the area with his binoculars.

Next to the curved road was a trolley car on a track, Welkin guess that it must lead to a level higher up then the road that lay up ahead. It was a perfect place to send a sniper, if they did their job well they might even get deeper into fouzen, like the Industrial sector without any Imperials knowing.

He called his snipers forward, and within moments both Marina Wulfstan and Cathrine O'Hara reported to Welkin as he looked through his binoculars at the buildings and layout in the distance.

"Alright, I need a sniper to head out and board that trolley car. If we're lucky, the sniper can take out any Imperials in our path towards the Industrial sectors of Fouzen and still keep our squads position unnoticed." said Welkin, Marina and Cathrine Nodded.

"Well...truth be told sir, I can't see very well in the dark. So I think Marina would be the best choice." offered Cathrine.

"Is that alright with you Marina, can you handle this darkness??" asked Welkin

Marina nodded, "Some predators are nocturnal." said Marina.

"Very well, there's no Imperials in sight, so you can head out anytime now." said Welkin

And Marina began to set out, but Ted came running up to her once more. "Hey, would you like some company?." he asked "I can totally see in the dark as well, ain't that weird.", and Marina stopped and looked back at him, then up at Welkin, he just smiled and nodded, but Ted didn't see this.

"Alright, well it was worth a short to ask." said Ted, turning and taking a step away from Marina.

"Alright..." said Marina in a soft tone, "You may come if you so wish."

This brought a huge smile to Ted's face, "Alright, let's get going then.", had he finally broken through her icy exterior alittle bit just now?

And together Ted and Marina crossed the metal bridge ahead of them, Marina slightly ahead of Ted, keeping an eye out for any Imperials. Once they were across the bridge, they boarded the trolley and it took them around the track a short distance until they were up on a higher ridge above the little road where Welkin and the others would have to travel down.

Just as they were about to get out of the trolley, Marina grabbed Ted and brought him around to the back of the trolley car. An Imperial soldier had heard the trolley coming and came to investigate.

"Uh oh...what are we gonna do. If we shoot it'll alert other Imperials in the area." whispered Ted as the soldier got closer.

Marina just looked over at Ted, "Then we don't shoot then do we?." she asked, and she laid her sniper rifle down and took out her hunting knife slowly out of her sheath attached to her belt. Ted cringed as he knew what was about to come next.

The Imperial soldier shone his flashlight at the trolley car and carefully looked around the area, but saw no movement or people in the area. Then he moved forward and stuck his arm and head into the trolley cars interior but saw nothing. So he turned his flashlight off and put it back on his belt, turning his back to the car next.

"Must of been nothing I guess." he said aloud and began to walk away from the trolley car.

Marina saw her chance and darted out from behind the Trolley car, grabbed the Imperial soldier from behind and pulled him towards her and with one quick slice, slit his throat and he emitted a muffled scream before Marina threw him forward to the ground, his body hitting the ground like a sack of potatoes.

"All clear." Marina whispered to Ted who was still behind the Trolley

"Yeah, sure...wha-whatever you say." Ted responded and came out of hiding, walked up to Marina and looked down at the dead Imperial soldier, "Darn...that's hardcore right there. Your quite good, you took him out silent but deadly like."

"I'm a sniper, it's what I do." said Marina, slowly moving forward and keeping an eye out for any other Imperials in the area. Soon she found two, both snipers just up ahead, having a cigarette and chatting together. So she got to the ground, laying in a prone position, flat on her stomach. Ted did the same and crawled on his knees and elbows up next to Marina.

"Think you can take em out?." he asked

"Yes, but I think I'll use alittle something the R&D department constructed for me and Cathrine." said Marina, reaching back into a little pouch attached to the right side of her hip. Soon she retrieved a small cylinder like object and attached it to the front of her sniper rifle barrel. Next she looked around and saw a small round rock laying next to Ted.

"Alright, Ted here's what I want you to do." she whispered, Ted nodded and listened closely, "Take that rock right there and throw it as hard as you can past the Imperials so it strikes the metal storage shed behind them."

"Oh I get it, a diversion." said Ted, picking up the small rock and getting into a kneeling position.

Meanwhile, Marina got her sniper rifle into place, cradled the buttstock against her right shoulder and she looked through the scope, placing her cross-hairs over one of the Imperials heads. "Now!" she ordered and Ted threw the rock with all he was worth and it flew from his hand, over the Imperials heads and struck the side of the metal storage shed, creating a loud Bang sound.

"Hmmm, what was that!!" said One of the Imperials, turning and aiming his rifle in the direction of the sound.

Marina then squeezed the trigger and fired off a round, but the normally loud KABANG sound that followed her shot wasn't there, it was replaced by a silent 'pa-ching' sound and one of the Imperials soldiers dropped to the ground, a bullethole in the back of his head. The other however didn't noticed and it gave Marina the time she needed to quickly pull her sniper rifle bolt back and load a new round into her rifle. The other Imperial soldier turned around just as Marina pushed the bolt forward into firing position and placed her cross-hairs over him next. 'Pa-ching', the other Imperial soldier was struck in the forehead and he too fell back, dead before he even hit the ground thanks to another skilled head shot by Marina.

"Wow, that was amazing, they didn't even know what hit em!!" praised Ted, patting Marina on the shoulder

She gave him an icy, cold glare, "Touch me again and they'll find your body on the bottom of the canyon floor." she warned, Ted gulped hard and nodded.

"Hehe...sorry..." said Ted, rubbing the back of his neck. "What...was that anyway??"

"They call it a silencer, it greatly reduces the amount of noise a rifle creates after it is fired." said Marina, patting her sniper rifle like it was a pet or something.

"Alright, it's all clear up here." said Marina, moving towards the edge of the canyon cliff they were up on. Marina then looked up at one of the guard towers that was covering another bridge that Squad 7 would have to move across in order to get to Fouzens Industrial sector.

And quickly, but quietly, she and Ted made their way over to the guard tower. soon they were just underneath it, "Ted, hold my rifle for a moment.", Ted nodded and took hold of her rifle as Marina began to climb up the guard tower, using the X-shaped support beams to climb up, rather then the ladder provided.

Meanwhile, up inside of the guard tower. One guard, not wearing a helmet was posted, keeping an eye on the bridge and other area around it as the searchlight moved automatically left to right. He yawned, and stretched his arms out to his sides, bored out of his mind.

"When are we gonna see some action here." he complained aloud.

Then, from the shadows behind him, Marina emerged. She grabbed the Imperial soldier from behind, covering his mouth with her right hand and grabbing hold of his head with the other hand. The Imperial soldier struggled for a second, before she jerked his head hard to the right, breaking his neck and killing him outright.

Back on the ground Ted kept looking behind himself and all around, "Jeez...what's taking so long...I hope she's alright." thought Ted. But that thought was confirmed when the body of an Imperial soldier dropped to the ground hard, from the guard tower and landed just afew feet away from him.

Ted's eyes grew wide and he looked up and saw Marina waving down to him, signalling that it was all clear. She then exited the guard tower and slide down the ladder until she was on the ground again. She held her hand out and without having to be told, Ted handed her her sniper rifle back.

"Let's get moving, the others are still waiting." said Marina and she moved towards the small cliffs edge that they were up on. Looking down at the area below. And she saw that there were afew guards in the area, walking their patrol routes. Thankfully, none were together, this gave Marina the perfect chance to take them out one by one without others seeing them fall.

Skillfully, Marina took aim and waited until the Imperials were in a good position, such as behind a building, or behind some crates, or close to the edge of the cliff drop off. So that when she took then out, they'd fall behind cover unseen or fall off the edge of the cliff into the raging river below, yet again unseen.

Ted meanwhile, kept an eye out for any Imperials, guarding her while Marina did her thing. And in less then two minutes Marina had taken out 8 soldiers, clearing the way for Squad 7 to advance. So Ted ran back to the trolley car and took a flashlight off of his belt, blinking it in a Morse code like way. Signalling that the way was all clear for Welkin and others to move in.

And the welcome sound of Welkins rumbling tank could be heard. So Ted made his way back to Marina's side just intime to see Welkins tank round the bend in the road up ahead, the rest of the squad following behind. The tank then crossed the next metal bridge and moved on with no opposition against them.

Ted's radio then came to life, "You've both done enough, stay where you are until I give the signal that it's all clear. Got that?."

"Yes sir, loud and clear." said Ted

"Roger" said Marina in her usual, unemotional tone.

Now Ted and Marina had nothing to do but sit and wait. And Ted sat with his legs dangling over the edge of the cliff side. Marina sat cross legged just behind him, cleaning her sniper rifle. No words were exchanged between the two as they just sat in silence for afew moments.

But unable to take it any longer Ted decided to test fate and be the first to speak, So he turned around and looked over at Marina."So...how's it going Marina??" asked Ted.

Marina kept on cleaning her rifle, not even looking over at Ted. Ted decided to try again, "Hey Marina, so like, we've never had the chance to talk or anything before...but seeing as how it's just the two of us...what do ya say??."

Marina looked over at Ted and turned her body, until she had her back to Ted. Ted sighed and looked forward again, looking down at the ground below him.

"Why..." asked Marina quietly, Ted looked back at her, "Why do you continue to try and speak to me after the way I've been treating you all this time."

"Well, I'm just trying to get to know you...you know, we are in the same squad and all." said Ted

"And...to see someone who never smiles is kind of worrying for me." said Ted "I've never met someone who never laughed or even so much as smiled at any of my jokes kind of worries me."

"You worry about me?" asked Marina, looking over her shoulder at Ted

Ted blushed and looked forward, trying to play it cool "Uh...well...ummm, sort of." said Ted, trying to come up with someone good. "Well...yes, I do worry."

"Well don't." said Marina, looking forward again "I've chosen the solitary life and I intend to keep it that way."

"But why...why do you want to be alone all the time." said Ted, moving towards Marina until he was just afew feet away, kneeling just behind her.

"All people ever bring is pain. I've put trust into people before and I've lost...time and tme again." said Marina, "So I've learned to distance myself from all others, that way I cannot be hurt."

Ted wanted to go on, but he could tell that Marina must of been hurting inside. Whatever happened to her, it must of been bad for her to remain the lone wolf type and always appear unemotional.

And as the two sat together, they heard an small explosion sound behind them and they both turned and saw a small brightly burning flare slowly falling to the ground. The signal that they were waiting for, that showed that Welkin and the others had cleared the rest of the way.

"Well, looks like the others are waiting, so shall we??" asked Ted, standing up and holding his hand out to Marina. But then he remembered something, blushed and looked away "Oh right...you don't like to be touched so I'll just-", but before Ted could finish or pull his hand away, Marina took hold of his hand with her own and let him help her to her feet.

"This doesn't mean I want to be your friend or anything...remember that." said Marina and she headed off first with Ted smiling brightly, then following right behind her.


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28- Darcsen Prejudice**

Vyse and the rest of Squad 7 were now just outside of the Darcsen housing district of fouzen, where all the poor forced labor workers were. And Vyse, being a corporal joined the higher ranking officers and all the other Darcsens in squad 7 as they entered one of the Hovels. But they weren't prepared for what they had witnessed once they were inside.

The inside was packed with dozens of Darcsen mine workers in rickety bunks, filthy living conditions and buckets of dirty water not fit for a dog at the back of the Hovel. Many of the Darcsen mine workers were sick and very ill looking. Welkin and the rest of the officers walked down the middle of the walkway between the bunks, while Vyse and Nadine moved from bunk to bunk, looking down at the poor inhabitants.

Nadine came across a Darcsen mother and young son, they looked up at her weakly. "Water...please, water..." she said, the child holding out his hands to Nadine.

Nadine nodded quickly and took her canteen off from her belt and handed it to the mother and child. The mother drank, then poured some water into her eagerly awaiting child's mouth. Soon more Darcsens, male, female, young and old were flocking to Nadine. All crying for water, Nadine was doing her best to help all of them, but she just didn't have enough water for everyone as her canteen was now empty.

"Vyse!, give me your canteen!!" Nadine cried as she tried to give all of the Darcsens some water. Vyse didn't hesitate and took out his canteen and helped Nadine attempt to quench the thirst of all the poor Darcsens.

Soon both of their canteens were empty, so they ran outside and Vyse gathered the rest of the squad. "Listen up guys, these poor Darcsens are dying of thirst, so spread out and try to give out equal portions to the Darcsen laborers."

Soon, everyone was sharing their water with the Darcsens inside of the cramped hovel. But there were still 4 other hovels besides the one they were in. So there was no way they could help everyone out sadly. While the members of squad 7 continued to try and help the Darcsens inside the hovel, Nadine and Vyse were walking around the hovel. The sight of the place shocked Vyse, for her had never seen people treated so poorly just because they were born a different race and hated for something their ancestors supposedly did so long ago.

The stench of sweat was strong in the air, the Darcsens worked all day and came back to the hovel soon after, no bathing or anything. There was a single toilet which dozens of people shared and it was in very poor condition. Even rats could be seen scurrying across the floor. Vyse was walking behind Nadine and she was visibly shaking as she walked forward.

And eventually it proved too much for Nadine, so she ran out of the hovel. Vyse right behind her and he followed her as she ran around to the back of the hovel. Once he saw her again she was bent forward, retching hard over and over again, finally throwing up. After she threw up, she wiped her mouth and breath hard, in and out afew times.

Vyse slowly approached her and put his hand on top of her shoulder, very worried about her. "You alright?" he asked, a rather stupid question to ask given what had just happened.

Nadine nodded and began to breath normal again, standing up straight once again and turning to Vyse. But her face was flush, and her eyes were watery and red and she looked unsteady on her feet. She then staggered to the left and Vyse caught her just as she was about to fall over. He then helped her to sit on a box crate just behind them and together they just sat, side by side, no words exchanged.

But Vyse could tell that what she had just seen must of been extremely difficult for her. She was, after all a Darcsen, just like all those poor people back in that hovel and all the other ones around them. It upset him that he couldn't find words to comfort her in her time of need. So he just wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to him, she rested her head against his shoulder and sighed.

"I've heard stories..." said Nadine finally, looking down at the ground, "Stories about what happens to Darcsens in Fouzen, how poorly they are treated. More like animals, then as human beings, but I had always hoped they were untrue. But tonight...I saw that they weren't, those Imperials aren't treating them like human beings in what they feed and give those Darcsens in there to drink. It's already hard enough to be born Darcsen, the Imperials are just making it far worse."

"I know, and I'm sorry that you had to see that." said Vyse, "But this is why we must win tomorrow, once the Imperials are gone, we'll bring aid and relief to these people.", Nadine nodded and closed her eyes, releasing another long and sad sigh.

The higher ranking officers then had their encounter with the informant, the one who would help them destroy the armoured train that wrecked havoc on Welkin and the other Militia squads that were sent to Fouzen. He too turned out to be a Darcsen, that went by the name of Zaka, and he was the leader of the Fouzen resistance.

He then led all of the squad into a mine shaft, that had a secret tunnel, or rather a series of tunnels that the Fouzen resistance had dug before the empire had invaded and kept secret from them. Inside were seized and recovered weapons from the previous Gallian forces that were staged there, the resistance seized as many weapons, ammo, ragnaid, medical and other military items as they could before the empire arrived.

And as the squad was lead through the secret tunnels, they came up to a large carved out room that had crates set up with a white cloth material covering it, it was basically a giant table with a 3-D model of Fouzen was set up and the mission briefing began. Vyse sat with the Darcsens. Such as Nadine, Lynn, and Isara.

Zaka was going over the mission plan, moving around the table as he went on. He came close to Rosie and she backed away.

"Stay away from me Dark-Hair, I can't handle the smell you Darcsens give off!!" shouted Rosie, everyone gasped.

Everyone except Nadine, Rosies hateful comment angered her and she attempted to get up and rush towards Rosie, but Vyse grabbed her by the arm and stopped her. It was a rather strange instance, for the roles of Nadine and Vyse were changed for once. It was usually Nadine holding Vyse back from getting into a scrap. Nadine was glaring at Rosie, who was just looking back at her, eye brows furrowed.

Zaka walked up to Nadine and placed his hands on her shoulders, "Hey, relax girl." said Zaka, patting Nadine ontop of the head, "This girl's obviously just out to state that she's far better then us." he turned to Rosie, "We're used to discrimination, so whatever you think of us, I for one don't care. The Imperials treat us far worse then just some harsh words, so go ahead, say anything you want."

Nadine breathed deep and exhaled slow and long, "Fine, I'll try and keep my mind on the mission." said Nadine, sitting back down next to Vyse once more.

The rest of the mission was explained and everyone knew what they had to do tomorrow. so they found places around the resistance hide out and curled up to get some sleep. Vyse rested his back against a blanket, placed against a wooden box. Nadine was next to him and they leaned against each other, heads together and closed their eyes.

Rosie's words came to Vyse, "I can't stand the smell you Darcsens give off!!", Vyse was alittle curious, Nadine was one of his best friends and he spent most of his time with her, but he never noticed anything, such as the Darcsen smell people talk about.

He peeked over and saw that Nadine had her eyes closed and her breathing was slow and steady, so ever so carefully he moved towards her and moved his nose close to her hair. *Sniff sniff*, but he smelled nothing unusual, just the smell of the shampoo she used.

"What are you doing??" asked Nadine, eyes still closed, head still resting against Vyses shoulder.

"Oh uh...nothing, I was just..." stammered Vyse, looking for a good excuse. But could think of nothing. "Sorry, just curious I guess. The comment Rosie's been saying over and over again, about the Darcsen smell."

Nadine chuckled, "Well, we don't actually give off a smell." said Nadine, "Most people mean that we have an invisible aura around ourselves, that ruins the atmosphere around the room cuz they don't like Darcsens. But for some people, if they hate Darcsens enough, they claim to smell an unpleasant odor radiating from our bodies. But it's all just in their heads, we don't smell any worse or better then normal people."

"I see, sorry about that." said Vyse, "Guess I still have alot to learn about Darcsen people.", Vyse then rested his head ontop of Nadine's once more and went to sleep.


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29- Luck ends here...**

Early the next morning,the squad was up and about, moving with the Fouzen resistance to gather the weapons and ammo and other supplies they would need to commence the operation. The train was right were it was supposed to be, on the tracks of the railway bridge above the Fouzen river.

Squad 7 and Darcsen members of the Fouzen resistance were in position, awaiting the order to move out. "Alright 7's, it's up to us to free Fouzen and destroy that armoured train, Squad 7 move out!!" ordered Welkin, waving his arm forward as he always did.

And together, Squad 7 and resistance members began their charge. And as Vyse ran forward, he was surprised to see Nadine running along side him, normally engineers remained at the back of the squad until called forward. But he understood what this mission meant to her, so he made sure to stick close to her and protect her. And together they ran until they reached a Bridge, on the bridge were anti-tank landmines.

"Guess they don't want us crossing this bridge." said Vyse aloud.

"No problem, leave it to me." said Nadine and she moved forward and began to disarm the mines, Vyse sticking close to her, while other members of squad 7 and the resistance continued on. The Edelweiss was patiently waiting for Nadine to finish clearing the mines, firing it's turret at tanks in the canyon below.

The air was filled with gunfire, explosions and shouts as major fighting went on all over Fouzen. The resistance was spread out all over Fouzen, emerging from mine shafts and secret openings in the canyon rock side, keeping the Imperials occupied and off balance as they fought the resistance members. The Imperials were unable to attack in force and were split up into small groups, giving the members of squad 7 the advantage as they moved together.

Soon Nadine finished disarming the landmines and the Edelweiss was able to cross the bridge and came to a halt on the other side. Welkin stuck his body out of the hatch and looked down at Nadine and Vyse.

"Zaka wants us to destroy a bridge down the road up ahead, it'll prevent the Imperials from bringing in more reinforcements from the north." said Welkin, "Can I entrust this to you two?"

Nadine and Vyse nodded, "Leave it to us sir!" said Nadine and she took off running, Vyse hot on her heels.

Soon the bridge was insight, but there was little resistance along the way, a shock trooper or two scattered here and there. But nothing that Vyse and Nadine couldn't handle as they went. Nadine took a grenade off of her belt and unscrewed the bottom safety cap.

But a strange sound above them made Vyse look up and he saw one of the Armoured trains anti-tank guns moving to take aim at them. So Vyse grabbed Nadine and they both hit the ground as the round flew over their heads, hitting the rock side of the Canyon not far from them, sending out chunks of rock in every direction.

And then, from an elevator shaft infront of Nadine and Vyse, emerged 10 Imperial soldiers, who were waiting for whoever would be unlucky enough to cross down that road to the bridge. And they charged towards Vyse and Nadine, who were still on the ground together.

Vyse looked up and saw one of the soldiers aim his rifle down at them, and he clenched his teeth together, bracing for the coming shot. But just then something else caught the Imperials eye as he looked up and at the same time Vyse felt someone just overtop of him. The stranger grabbed hold of the Imperials rifle and pulled it towards themselves, the Imperial soldier pulled forward as well. The stranger then headbutted the Imperial soldier hard, knocking him to the ground. Another Imperial soldier was charging at the stranger who saved him. Vyse noticed he or she reached behind them and retrieve a large wooden boomerang from a leather pouch on their back and throw it at the Imperial soldier, it hit him right on the ridge of his nose and he fell to the ground.

The stranger turned and looked down at Vyse and Nadine, "Come on guys!, get up already. Need some help here!!" said Aika, turning forward again and firing her Gallian rifle at the other Imperial soldiers, members of the resistance joined Aika and together they took down the other Imperial soldiers.

"Aika?!?" said Vyse, wide eyed and surprised as hell. He got up and ran to her, about to give her a hug before she grabbed him by the from of his shirt and pulled him towards herself.

"Fight now, talk later!!" said Aika, letting go of Vyse and running with the rest of the resistance members she was with.

Vyse looked back at Nadine, "Nadine, take out that bridge!!" ordered Vyse.

Nadine nodded, retrieved her grenade, pulled the safety cord and threw it with all her might towards the bridge and ran for cover. The grenade exploded and obliterated the bridge into mere wood chunks, now Imp reinforcements wouldn't be coming from the north.

Further down the line, Lynn was protecting Karl as he worked hard and fast to clear mines from another metal bridge spanning the Fouzen river. Karl was trying to keep his mind on his job, but his hands were shaking terribly as he attempted to disarm another mine. The scream of a Fouzen resistance member across from him made him jump, bullets hitting the metal bridge all around him and whizzing past him didn't help his trembling hands either.

"All members on the bridge, duck!" ordered Welkin, and everyone hit the ground and the Edelweiss fired it's main cannon, destroying a tank firing at them from the other side of the bridge. Once it was gone, Karl got back to work.

In another part of Fouzen, more Imperial tanks were powering up inside the tank hanger, getting ready to move out. But unknown to them, a blonde hair girl with a glasses had just finished setting a large pack of explosives near the ragnoline fuel tanks. She pressed a button on the bomb and a red light began flashing, she smiled and exited the tank hanger through a small hole in the brick building.

"All set Dal, ready when you are!!" shouted Juno Coren as she ran back to where Dallas Wyatt was waiting, behind abunch of metal crates.

"Alright, here goes nothing." said Dallas, flipping the safety cap off of her remote detonator. She and Juno looked at each other and nodded to one another. Dallas then pressed the button and the bomb pack exploded, igniting the fuel and ordnance inside the tank hanger, sending the entire place, tanks and all into a massive explosion.

Juno and Dallas laughed and gave eachother a high five, their part in this mission was completed.

Meanwhile, Karl had finished disarming the last of the mines and Fina, the medic had finished evacuating the last of the wounded resistance members. The way was clear for Welkin to move through, the rest of the squad gathered around his tank, including Aika Thompson, Vyse and Nadine who had just reached the Edelweiss.

Vyse looked over at Aika, so happy to see her, but she had a look of sheer determination on her face as she looked across the bridge where squad 7 and the rest of the Fouzen resistance would have to go next.

"Squad 7, follow me!!" said Welkin and his tank drove forward, his main cannon firing shells at the Imperial soldiers taking cover behind sandbags and buildings on the other side of the bridge. Welkin's snipers were high up on the cliffs, picking off soldiers. Welkin's shock troopers and scouts were walking slowly just ahead of and beside the Edelweiss, firing at the Imperials.

From behind the Imperials, Claudia Mann and Fouzen resistance members were coming from destroying a second bridge, preventing more Imperials from coming from another direction. Claudia and her group had managed to flank the Imperials and take them out, now Welkin and his group were clear to cross the next bridge and be one step closer to success.

"Alright 7's were almost there, just keep the pace up and victory will be ours." said Welkin through his radio to the members of the squad.

Members of the squad were happy to see the faces of the lost members of the squad, but it there was still work to be done. So as happy as they were, they stuck to their mission.

Afew members of squad 7, new and old boarded another one freight elevator and moved up to a higher level of Fouzen, while the rest of the squad continued to fight Imperials on the lower levels. But Imperial resistance here was tighter then anywhere else. They obviously didn't want them near the armoured train.

Welkin and the other members of Squad 7 engaged the Imperials in a fierce fire fight. Squad 7's lancers taking out tanks, shock troopers mowing down troops behind sandbags. Claudia Mann and her group of resistance fighters saw an opening in the Imperial lines.

"We'll move forward and take out the train, cover us!!" shouted Claudia and she and 5 other resistance members charged towards the Imperials, running past a smoking and on fire tank and continuing on towards another elevator that would lead them down to a position where they would be in perfect firing position to shoot the bomb that Zaka had attached to the bridge.

But once they went down the elevator and the doors opened, they were under fierce and unrelenting fire from the armoured trains guns. Claudia ducked down with her team and took afew deep breaths.

"Lady luck...you owe me." she said and she was the first out the door, her team following behind her. But two soldiers were mowed down by the Gatling gun fire from the train. The other three, including Claudia were thrown forward and in the air by an explosion behind them as an anti-tank round hit the ground behind them.

But claudia was able to get up and looked up and at the train, it's main and biggest cannon was slowly moving to the left. It was getting ready to fire it's main cannon, the one that obliterated the other squads that went with Welkin's squad 7 with it's deadly cluster bomb round.

It's gatling guns had stopped firing at Claudia and her group, the gunner crews probably assuming that Claudia and her group were dead. Claudia remained on the ground and closed her eyes.

"I've only got one chance to stop that thing before it takes the lives of my squad members. If I stop running or moving, even for a second I'll be hit for sure... sorry guys, this is the only way." said Claudia aloud.

So she took afew deep breaths, got up as quick as she could and continued running down the rock road, towards the edge of the cliff drop off. and as she ran towards the edge of the high clifftop she was on, the Gatling guns were once again raining bullets down on Claudia. Bullets were whizzing past her body and head, missing her by mere inches. One bullet struck her hard in the left arm, she staggered for a moment, then caught her balance and continued to run as fast as she could. Another round hit her in the right thigh and she groaned in pain, but kept going.

Once she was at the edge she jumped off and began to fire her handgun at the bomb pack as she fell towards the water of Fouzen river below. But luck was with her that day as one of the bullets she fired hit the bomb and caused it to explode, and as planned the supports of the bridge began to buckle. Claudia hit the water and disappeared under the waters surface. Not long after, the entire bridge collapsed, sending the armoured train and all of the metal and wood from the bridge, down into the river below...on top of where Claudia had gone under the water.

Meanwhile, both sides had stopped firing when they heard the explosion, the grinding and straining of the metal bridge as it collapsed and finally the enormous splash of the armoured train falling into the river. And with no General to lead them, the Imperials fighting against Squad 7, dropped their weapons and had their hands up in the air.

And as members of squad 7 were cheering, Aika broke off from the squad and ran towards the elevator she and her group of resistance fighters had gone down. Vyse and Nadine followed her, but Aika didn't wait up for them. She was the first down the elevator, so Vyse and Nadine would have to wait for it to come back up.

But as Aika reached the bottom of the elevator and the doors opened up, she saw that the Fouzen resistance members were all on the group, two shot to death, the other three were on the ground a short distance away. So Aika ran up to the three and checked on them. Sadly two were dead and the third was badly injured.

Aika knelt next to him and asked, "Where's Claudia??"

The injured Darcsen caughted and pointed with a shaky hand towards the Fouzen river, "She...jumped...she's gone..." he said, before his hand hit the ground and he passed away.

"What...No...No!!" said Aika, and she ran to the edge of the cliff top and looked down at the water below. And all she saw in the water was twisted metal, flaming train wreckage and...a red headband floating in the water next to all of it. Aika knelt down on one knee and lowered her head "Claudia..." Aika said sadly.

**_____________________________________________________________________________________**

**_Hey Readers, Well my last chapter, this one and the one that's coming next were all 1 BIG, LONG chapter. But I thought it best to split them up and post them 1 at a time, cuz it was alot to take in, if it was just 1 chapter. Just thought I'd let you know, if my last one seemed alittle short, it was because it was part 1 of a much longer chapter. Prob 10,000 words if put into 1 chapter and that seemed like alot to take in with all the different situations that happen._**


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30- Happy and Sad Reunions**

Vyse and Nadine were still waiting for the elevator to get back up to them from the place that Aika had gone to find Claudia and her team. Soon enough they heard the ding of the elevator as it had signalled that it was making it's way back up to them. Either it was Aika coming back up or Aika, Claudia and her teaming coming back up after successfully destroying the armoured train.

But once the freight elevator had made it's way back up, Vyse and Nadine had found that it was Aika and Aika alone who was making her way back up. Vyse wanted to say something, but he saw that Aikawas holding something in her hand, a piece of red, fabric material that she was holding in her hands as she looked down at it sadly, it was Claudia Mann's trademark red headband that she always wore. and Aikawalked past Nadine and Vyse. And Vyse didn't need to tell Nadine that now wasn't the time to talk to her.

Meanwhile, Welkin Gunther and the team who was with him, were busy rounding up the Imperial prisoners who were with them, the ones who surrendered after their General, General Gregor was killed when the armoured train was destroyed.

Welkin looked to his left and saw Aika Thompson making her way to him, Vyse and Nadine trailing afew feet behind her. Once she reached him she held up both her hands with teary eyes and looked up at Welkin.

"Claudia...Claudia Mann is..." said Aika, two tears falling down her cheeks.

Welkin sighed and nodded his head, he knew what she meant, for he saw that Claudia and her team had ran off to destroy the explosives attached to the train bridge. And if Claudia herself didn't come back to report successful detonation of the bridge...it could only mean one thing. She didn't survive and someone else had to tell him of her ill fate.

Welkin then jumped down from his tank, took Claudia's red headband and made his way towards one of the two shacks that were set up on one of the highest levels of Fouzen, where he and his team were located. Once he was inside he found a radio, walked up to it and pressed the talk button. Once he did, a series of loud speakers came on all across Fouzen, giving out a loud ringing sound before Welkin's voice came on over them.

"Squad...Sqaud 7." said Welkin, loud static and ringing coming on before Welkin's voice came in clearly, his voice echoing throughout the entire canyon walls of Fouzen city in the canyons around them. The members of squad 7 all stopping in their tracks and awaiting Welkin's next announcement.

"I'm here to report that Fouzen city is now under our control, the remaining Imperials are surrendering and the armoured train has been destroyed." said Welkin. And throughout Fouzen, the other members of Squad 7, including the snipers and other teams who weren't with Welkin cheered loudly and proudly.

But Welkin's voice come on, once again over the intercom system, "But...it is my sad duty to report that a member of the squad... Claudia Mann... has been lost in the line of duty."

And immediately Aisha Neumann, Juno Coren and Dallas Wyatt all gasped in shock. Tears built up in their eyes as members near them, either hugged or placed their hands sympathetically on their shoulders.

"She...she was a model militia soldier till the very end." said Welkin's sadly voice over the intercom, "As well as a woman of remarkable courage and strength of character. Her loss will be deeply felt by all who knew her. But it is thanks to her actions alone, that we have won the day, remember her for that."

But as all of the members of squad 7 were in the middle of mourning the loss of Claudia Mann, that another transmission had come on over the radio. It was Captain Varrot's voice and she sounded very worried. Vyse, Aika and Nadine were near the Edelweiss were able to hear the new transmission.

"Lieutenant Welkin, there's an emergency. The Imperials are fleeing the city, but they've set fire to the Darcsen concentration camps!!" said Captain Varrot. "The barracks are in flames, get over there NOW!!."

"WHAT?!?, NO!!" said Welkin, "Squad 7, get to the Darcsen concentration camp!!"

Nadine's eyes grew wide, "Oh...NO!!", and she took off running, stripping off her engineers backpack, waist tool belt and everything that might slow her down, until she only had her uniform and rifle in hand. She even ran faster then Vyse or Aika could keep up.

And not long after, the entire squad had made their way back to the Darcsen concentration camp. But what they saw was terrible. The hovels and buildings that had held the Darcsenforced laborers was burned to the ground. And nothing remained but afew blackened, charred timbers. Burned, black, unrecognizable bodies were inside the smoldering remains. The remains of the poor Darcsen's who were killed inhumanly and without pity.

Vyse was standing next to Alicia, head lowered and mourning the poor Darcsen's who were killed.

"Why...why murder everyone." said Alicia, walking up to the burned Darcsen concentration camp buildings sadly, "They forced everyone to go into these buildings and set them on fire...for what..."

Vyse nodded sadly, before hearing some sort of commotion. He looked to his right, behind one of the burning hovels and saw Nadine, kicking someone viciously, then hitting that person with the butt of her rifle multiple times. Aika ran past him first and made her way over to Nadine and who she was beating, before Vyse followed.

"You bastard!!" screamed Nadine, hitting her Imperial prisoner with the butt of her rifle across the face, then kicking him. She then dragged him to his knees and cocked her rifle back, aiming it down at him. "You killed them didn't you!!"

The young Imperial soldier, who couldn't of been more then 17 years old trembled in fear, hands help up in the air. "NO!, No I didn't!!." he cried, "I was only drafted into the Imperial army yesterday. I don't want to fight, I never wanted to fight, they made me!!. When all the other Imperials ran, I saw my chance to get away from them, it's why I didn't run with them, I stayed here... to surrender."

"Your Lying!!." cried Nadine, extreme anger burning in her eyes. "You killed all those Darcsens, I know you did!!"

But Aika ran in between Nadine and the Imperial prisoner and hit Nadine's rifle out of her hands. She then grabbed the Imperial soldier and pulled him next to her, "If you want to surrender, go to our Lieutenant, he'll accept your surrender.", and with that, she pushed him towards Lieutenant Welkin and the rest of the squad and he ran towards Welkin, desperate to get away from Nadine, who was determined to kill him.

Nadine growled and began to run after the Imperial soldier, but Aika grabbed Nadine and stopped her, holding her back with everything she had. And once Welkin grabbed the Imperial soldier and took him towards the Edelweiss, Nadine stopped struggling.

But then she looked at Aika angrily and grabbed her by the throat and took her to the ground. "What the hell is wrong with you!!" she screamed, punching Aika in the face, once, twice, then three times.

"Nadine!!" cried Vyse, running up to Nadine.

Nadine then grabbed Aika by the front of her uniform and pulled her up to her knees, "GET UP!!" she cried, reaching to her belt and pulling out her sidearm pistol, "GET UP!!" and she aimed her pistol barrel at Aika's face. Nadine's teeth bared, breathing deep, heavy and angrily as she glared at Aika with wide, unblinking eyes.

Vyse dropped to his knees and placed one hand on Nadine's shoulder, the other on top of her pistol that she was aiming at Aika's face. "Nadine..." said Vyse, "Nadine...No..."

Nadine was tempted to pull the trigger, against someone stopping her from taking revenge for all the Darcsen's who were killed that day.

Just then Zaka, the leader of the resistance placed his hand against the barrel of Nadine's pistol and pushed it aside and with his other he slapped Nadine hard across the face, shocking her and Vyse and Aika with his actions.

"Wha...Mr......" said Nadine, hand against her cheek "Why... why are you stopping me.", some tears dropping from Nadine's eyes, "So many of our people have died in such a horrible way. And Aika stopped me from taking revenge, so why would you... a fellow Darcsen stop me."

"It's true that so many of our people have died this day." said Zaka, he then looked over at Aika. "But Aika has lived with us for the past month, she's seen how the Darcsen's have lived, worked and died in Fouzen."

Aika nodded, "I know how your people are treated on a daily basis." said Aika, "I've worked in the mines with them, I've eaten what they've eaten for the past month, lived how they've lived. I've also seen how the Imperials treat them, how little they care for their lives, how poorly they treat them. So I know that that Imperial soldier that you were going to kill wasn't part of the Imperial force that killed these Darcsens here today. I believe his story about how he wasn't responsible for these Darcsen deaths."

Nadine contined to cry hard, "But still, shouldn't some Imperials die for what happened to our people, Zaka." cried Nadine, "Our people died so horribly, burned to death. Young and old, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, all of them our people Mr. Zaka...All Darcsen!!"

"Nadine, you know that that is not the Darcsen way of life." said Zaka, "We do not fight fire with fire, or take an eye for an eye. For enough people have died today.

"But Mr. Zaka, We've endured so much hatred in our lives, put up with so much and still our people get killed and persecuted just for being Darcsen... doesnt' that even make you angry!!" said Nadine, tears steadily falling down her cheeks.

"Of course it does, and of course I could of killed that Imperial soldier just as easily as you were about to." said Zaka, "But this I know, It wouldn't bring those people back. Had he died, it just wouldn't of been 1 more meaningless death in this tragic loss today."

"I... I'm trying to believe that, but I've done nothing but tried to live up to the Darcsen beliefs." cried Nadine, "You've been through so much more then I have. So how can you be so calm, how can you be like you are...where is your Darcsen pride!!"

"My Darcsen pride is this." said Zaka, placing his hands ontop of Nadine's shoulder's and looking into her eyes, "That even if I'm persecuted, even if I'm killed for what I believe in, killed for believing in my Darcsen tradition and heritage... I die for peace. Because that... is how the Darcsen live their lives, when we die, we die for peace."

And with that Nadine lowered her head and continued to cry hard, and Zaka departed from Nadine and went back to Welkin and the senior officers. Vyse, feeling sorry for Nadine walked up to her and knelt down next to Nadine. He placed his hand ontop of her shoulder as she cried. "Nadine... I'm sorry for what happened."

Nadine nodded, as she placed her hands against her face, crying hard into her hands.

"And don't forget Roman." said Vyse, "Remember that there are still innocent Imperials among the ranks of the Imperial army, like that young boy was."

Nadine nodded once again and got up and walked over to Welkin, Vyse followed behind her.

Nadine then stood infront of Welkin and saluted him, tears still falling down her eyes. "Welkin, sir." said Nadine, trying to wipe away her tears, "What are your orders sir?. What do you want me to do!, where do you want me to go sir.", Nadine was trying to wipe her tears away as best she could, but new tears were falling from her eyes just as quickly as she was wiping them away.

Vyse looked behind him and saw Zaka finishing talking to Rosie, giving a similar speech he had given Nadine. He then walked up to the smoldering, smoking ruins of the once Darcsen concentration camp. Once he was there, he began to pick up charred wooden pieces and move them aside, searching for any signs of life.

Welkin then waved everyone forward, "There could be other survivors, everyone help us look!!" ordered Welkin and the other members of squad 7 and some Darcsens who weren't in the concentration camp began to look through the ruins that Zaka, Isara, Nadine and even Rosie who was now helping Zaka sift through the burning ruins.

Vyse was about to help as well, but he looked over and saw Aika walking away from the camp. He looked back at Welkin, Welkin noticed as he was lifting a burned piece of timber with Isara, he nodded to Vyse and gave his approval to go after her. And Vyse did so, running towards Aika.

soon he reached her, and Aika was standing near the edge of a cliff drop off on the lowest level of Fouzen Industrial city. She was looking up at the city, some buildings spewing smoke from the fighting, other areas of the city had Darcsen resistance members leading Imperial prisoners away.

"Aika!, hey Aika!!" yelled Vyse as he made his way up to her.

Aika turned, looked at Vyse and waved, "Hey Vyse." said Aika, giving a weak smile.

Vyse approached Aika and stood just in front of her. "Hey Aika...are you alright??" asked Vyse.

Aika nodded, "Yeah, I'm alright."

But Vyse knew her better then anyone else ever could, "Are you really alright??" he asked, concerned.

"Yep, I'm good." said Aika, she gave a brief smile, then looked off to the side, her smile fading.

Vyse inhaled deeply, then exhaled slowly. He then held his arms out to the side, "Come here Aika, Give ol' Vyse a hug"

"Huh?" asked Aika, looking back at Vyse.

Vyse didn't say anything more, he just smiled as wide as he could and chuckled, still holding his arms out, waiting for Aika to come to him.

Aika stood where she was for a moment or two, then she could no longer hold her composure. First her smile faded, her eyes grew wide, then began to tear up. And she tried hard to keep from crying, but she just couldn't do it. Tears flowed from her eyes, down her cheeks and dripped to the ground, but still she tried to keep them in.

But finally she gave in and cried loudly, "I'M SORRY VYSE!!" she wailed, running up to him and wrapping her arms around his body, sobbing loudly as she buried her face in his chest. And now being reunited with his best friend, Vyse couldn't help but shed some tears as he patted Aika on the head as she continued to wail and sob against his chest.

"I'm sorry for ever getting mad at you." sobbed Aika, "I'm sorry for how I treated you before we were separated. I never want that to happen again!!"

Vyse contined to pat Aika on the head, nodding as tears fell from his own eyes. "Don't...worry about it Aika. I know exactly what you mean... when you were gone, it was the loneliest that I've ever felt in my entire life. You mean so much to me and I don't ever want to lose you ever again."

Aika nodded and pulled away from Vyse, and looked up into his teary eyes with her own "Romantic feelings aside, let's just be together as we once were." said Aika, "Now's not the time for those kinds of feelings."

"I agree, with all that's happened, I'm just glad to have to back in my life." said Vyse, "Maybe, once this war is over we will give those feelings some thought once more."

Vyse then looked back to where Nadine and the rest of Sqaud 7 were, sifting through the burned down rubble of the Darcsen concentration camps.

Vyse gestured with his head in the direction of the camps, "Come on, Let's go help our friends." said Vyse , holding out his hand to Aika.

Aika wiped away her tears with the back of her hand, "Of course, It's you and me here baby!" said Aika, taking hold of Vyse's hand as they both ran together back to the squad.


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31- A night to remember**

Squad 7 had returned back to Amatriain military base, as well as other the militia squads. And everyone was eating in the mess hall. But despite the many victories that squad 7 had achieved, and even successfully taking back the Ragnite mining city of Fouzen, their moral was at an all time low.

And even though their losses since the start of the war were few in comparison to other squads, each one lost was a very dear friend to the members of squad 7. Their losses included Noce wordsworth, Mica Hawkins and Claudia Mann.

The Darcsens of squad 7 had also witnessed a terrible deed done to members of their race at Fouzen, so their moral was especially low. So everyone ate in silence, the Darcsens even separated themselves from the rest of the squad to mourn the loss of their people at Fouzen. Lynn wouldn't even allow Karl, her fiancee to sit with her, Isara and Nadine. It was something only they, the Darcsens would understand and be able to help each other through.

Meanwhile at the other end of the base, inside the central command building, Welkin was speaking to the new replacements who would take over the positions of Mica and Claudia. The squads most recent losses.

And standing in front of him were: Alex Raymond, a transfer from Squad 1, who had requested transfer to fight with Welkin's squad. A female shock trooper with a white kint cap and two dark marks under her eyes, who went by the name of Wendy Cheslock. And a male Darcsen with a beard and glasses, named Wavy.

And all three stood infront of Welkin's wooden desk and gave him a salute.

"Welcome to Squad 7." said Welkin returning the salute, "Though I'm sorry that you have to come at such a time, the squad's moral is extremely low....so I don't think they'll be as warm welcoming as I am."

Wendy just snickered, "Don't worry about it sir, I'm more of a lone wolf type anyways." said Wendy, giving a grin.

"Being Darcsen, I'm more then used to not being welcomed with open arms. So don't give it another thought sir." said Wavy.

"Aw, don't worry boss." said Alex, giving a thumbs up. "I'm sure once we get introductions going around they'll open up soon enough."

Welkin smiled, "Thank you all, that means alot to me that your willing to be patient." said Welkin, "After all, we've just come back from Fouzen... and alot of Darcsens and one of our squad members were lost on that day." said Welkin

"Yes I heard, it's why I joined, so that no more innocent Darcsens will die." said Wavy

"Well, the rest of the squad is in the mess hall. So go over and introduce yourselves anytime you want." said Welkin, giving a salute.

The new replacements saluted back and then turned on their heels in an about turn and marched out of the room.

However, as soon as they were out there was another knock on Welkin's door. And Welkin told them to come in. And it turned out to be Alicia.

"Hey Welkin." said Alicia, walking up to Welkin's desk with her hands held together behind her back. "I um...have a favor to ask. It's about letting another member into the squad."

"Hmm, another member?" said Welkin, "Well I don't know about that, we're already over the squad limit of 20 members."

"I know sir, but I talked to Captain Varrot about this and she said that the battles were just going to get tougher, so another member wouldn't hurt. But she said it'd be up to you." said Alicia.

"Well, more members means were going to be taking up alot more food, space in the barracks and resources from the base to supply our own squad, more then the others at this point." said Welkin.

"Well it's just that...this person is a very good friend of mine." said Alicia, walking backwards towards the door. "So it would mean alot to me if you'd let her join. She's already been kicked out of two squads and this is her last chance."

"Kicked out of two squads??" said Welkin, amazed, he put his hand against his chin, then nodded his head. "Alright, bring her in and I'll think about it."

Alicia nodded and smiled, "Thanks alot Welkin." said Alicia, she then turned the knob, opened the door and stuck her head out into the hallway. "Susie!, you can come in now."

"A-ah...ok." said a nervous, trembling voice.

And Alicia re-entered the room with a blond haired girl, with curly hair and a giant pink bow tied to the back of her hair. She was very nervous looking as her hands fidgeted together in front of her and she was looking down at the ground as Alicia led her into the room with her hands on top of her shoulders.

"This is my friend, Susie Evans." said Alicia, gesturing to Susie. "She's from Bruhl, just like I am. And was also a member of the town watch. Her father wanted her to join the militia to better strengthen her character, so she did it, because he wanted it. But she's alittle...bit against killing and violence."

Susie was still fidgeting nervously before Alicia nudged her with her elbow. "Oh, S-sorry sir" stammered Susie, she then straightened up and gave Welkin a salute and held it there. "Susie Evans, private first class, I realize that I am inexperienced, but I'll do the best I can."

Welkin smiled and gave Susie a salute back, "So in other words, your a pacifist, is that correct?" asked Welkin.

Susie blushed and looked away, "Well...yes sir, I just can't bring myself to shoot another person, or hurt them." said Susie, "But I'm sure I can help out in some way...please sir, father would be so disappointed if I got kicked out of the Militia and had to return home."

Welkin smiled and chuckled again, and this time gave Susie a thumbs up, "Don't worry, you won't get kicked out, so long as I have anything to say about it.", Welkin then reached into one of the drawers to his desk and pulled out a Squad 7 patch, with the white unicorn in the background and a very large #7 on it and he held it out to Susie. "Welcome to Squad 7 Susie Evans, and don't worry, we have more then enough fighting members of the squad as we are over the 20 soldier limit."

Susie smiled and clapped her hands excitedly, "Thank you so much sir!" said Susie, running up to Welkin's desk and taking the Squad 7 patch from him, she then gave another salute, this time more energetically "I won't let you down, I promise!", and Susie left the room, skipping down the hallways in glee.

Alicia and Welkin laughed loudly together, "Thanks Welkin, I owe you one." said Alicia.

"Hey, any friend of Alicia's is a friend of mine." said Welkin.

And yet again, there was another knock on the door, this time Faldio of Squad 1's voice could be heard on the other side. "Yo, Welkin, ya in??" he asked

"Yeah, it's open." replied Welkin, Alicia stood on the other side of the desk by Welkin's side.

Falido then opened the door and entered Welkin's office, he grinned and gave a wave to the two of them. "Hey guys...am I interrupting anything?" he asked, Welkin shook his head. "Just got word from Captain Varrot, she wants all of the squads to host a party, a moral booster."

"Party?" asked Alicia, "At a time like this?, doesn't that seem alittle inappropriate."

"Not at all." said Faldio, "We've been fighting for a long time now, with little or no break in between. So this is going to be a much needed distraction from all the stress that this war puts on us."

"This could also be a good chance for the new replacements we just received toady to meet the veteran members of Squad 7." said Welkin, "Alright, sounds like a plan."

A half hour later, Welkin had gathered the entire squad, new and old members present. "Alright guys, here's the plan." said welkin, "There's going to be a party tonight, all squads will be present there, so I want each and everyone of you there, is that understood?"

There was a moment of silence, before everyone smiled and nodded, giving a loud "Yes Sir!" in unison.

And later into the evening at around 6:00 P.M., the party started. There was a very large stage set up, where members from different squads would perform on stage. But as the music started playing, the members of squads 1 through 9 were sticking to their own groups, the new members of the squad still hadn't introduced themselves either and were all standing in a small circle together. The party wasn't off to a great start just yet.

But just then, two very large, supply trucks pulled up and back up till they were side by side near the stage. And exiting one of the trucks was Drill Instructor Rodriguez, he then stood on the back of the tail gate and blew a whistle loudly and got everyone attention.

"Listen up maggots!!" he shouted and everyone turned to look in his direction, "I push you hard in training, I expect only the best of all of you. So I give only the best in return!!" and with the he pulled down the flap of the first supply truck, revealing numberous kegs in the back. "Here's the beer!!"

And everyone cheered loudly, He then loved to the next truck and pulled the flap down the same way, revealing boxes of numerous other alcoholic drinks and cases filled with footballs, games and playing cards "Here's the liquor and entertainment, so have fun tonight. That's an order!!"

and everyone ran to the trucks to tap the kegs, pulled out liquor bottles and gathered things to keep them entertained.

And after a while, everyone's nerves were calmed. Cheering and laughter now filled the air as a band from another squad began to play on stage. People even cleared a large, square space to act as a dance floor.

At one of the many wooden tables set up beside the stage, close to the dance floor was Aika and Vyse. Both were talking and having a good time. And just then, Nadine approached the table, carrying three glasses with her.

"Hey...I bring offerings." said Nadine, cheeks alittle rosy red.

Vyse and Aika looked at each other, "Guess we could, we don't normally drink. But tonight's a special occasion." said Aika, Vyse nodded

And they took the drinks from Nadine and took a sip, Nadine then took a deep breath and looked at Aika.

"Aika, I don't think I ever apologized for making you angry or pointing a gun in your face" she said, a look of shame on her face. "So Aika, I'm sorry for all of that, I was wrong to do it and I feel really bad for it."

Aika just smiled, stood up and pulled Nadine close to her, wrapping her arms around her in a hug. "None of that matters now Nadine, your my friend and always will be." said Aika. "I was wrong to of said those hurtful things to you as well, so I'm sorry as well."

Nadine smiled and returned Aika's hug, "Don't worry Aika, your my friend as well and thank you."

Meanwhile, on the other side of the dance floor, Marina was feeding Hans some food from the salad she was eating. And she happened to see someone out of the corner of her eye and she looked and saw Ted, carrying two drinks in his hands.

"Hey Marina, I see that your alone...so mind if I join you?" he asked.

"You didn't have to bring me a drink." said Marina.

Ted looked down at his hands, "Oh...well, I didn't. These are for me." said Ted.

Marina nodded and looked back down at Hans, petting him on the head.

"Ah, gotcha, of course one of these is for you...if you want it." said Ted, laughing.

"Very well, you may sit down if you wish." said Marina, pointing to the seat in front of her and Ted sat down and handed one of the drinks to Marina. She tipped the bottle back and took a long drink.

"Wow...never met a woman who could drink like that." said Ted.

"Well, every now and then I do enjoy a nice drink." said Marina, wiping the side of her mouth with the back of her gloved hand. "And with all that's happened, I'm sure everyone could use it."

Marina and Ted took a drink together before setting down their cups. Ted grinned, "We should play a drinking game. You know any good drinking games??"

"Nope." said Marina nonchalantly.

"Come on, you must know one and tonight's the only night we can party so...got any??."

Marina thought for a moment and came up with one, "You ever play Hunter, Bear, Ninja?" she asked.

"What?" asked Ted.

"Game me and my father used to play on special occasions." said Marina, "Bear pose goes like this." and she held up her arms up, hands out like claws. "Hunter pose is this." and she pretended to hold an invisible rifle at the waist, "and lastly Ninja pose is this." and she held her arms up in a ninja fighting stance. "It's basically the same as Rock, Paper, Scissors."

"Ok, let's do this." said Ted and he waved to the bartender and he set up a line of drinks on Ted and Marina's sides.

And both Ted and Marina held their arms down by the said, Ted letting Marina lead.

"Hunter in the woods, Bear in the Bush, Ninja in the trees." chanted Marina musically, Ted repeating her

"Hunter, Bear, Ninja who will win!" said Marina, and and she held up an invisible rifle and Ted held up a bear pose.

"Bang, your dead." said Marina, Ted laughed and drank.

"Ok, keep going." said Ted

"Hunter in the woods, Bear in the Bush, Ninja in the trees." said Marina, this time alittle louder, Ted matching her voice.

"Hunter, Bear, Ninja, Who will win!!" said Marina and she held her hands up in a Ninja pose and at the same time Ted held his arms up in a bear pose.

"Ninja beats bear, you drink." said Marina

"WHAT?!?" exclaimed Ted, "How does a ninja beat a bear."

"Cuz Ninja's are stealthy, use poisonous weapons and launch surprise attacks." explained Marina.

"Oh...ok." said ted, taking a long drink from his cup.

And the game went on this way for good half an hour, and at this point Marina and Ted were both pounding on the table as they screamed the chants and striking their poses much more energetically. Both of their cheeks were rosy, eyes little glassy as they continued their game.

A slow song then came on and Ted looked over as couples moved to the dance floor. "Hey, wanna dance??" he asked, holding his hand out to her.

Marina looked away, "Thanks for asking Ted, but it's getting late." said Marina, getting up and moving away from the table, walking past Ted. "Thanks though, I had fun tonight."

"Really, you never smiled the whole time we were playing, yet you seemed energetic." said Ted

"Well, I don't need to smile to show that I am having a good time." said Marina and she walked away.

And Ted sat back down and sighed sadly, "Well, I tried and got through little bit more today." thought Ted, he smiled and nodded his head, his head then began to wave around, the drinks taking affect now. "She's so pretty..." said Ted and his head fell forward against the table, letting out a loud bang.

Just then he felt something tugging against his neck, he looked up and saw that it was Hans, the porcavian piglet, he had somehow grabbed ahold of Ted's dog tags in his teeth and was pulling against them. He gave one more quick jerk and pulled Ted's dog tags off of his neck, jumped off the table and began to scurry off.

"Hey!, you little runt, give those back!!" he shouted, getting up and chasing Hans through the crowd, people laughing as they watched the chase move past them. Hans then scurried behind the stage and along a warehouse, disappearing around the corner.

Ted then ran around the corner, but came to a screeching stop when he saw Marina, bending down and retrieving the dogtags from Hans mouth. "Good boy Hans." said Marina, she then stood up and held the dog tags up. "Do these belong to you??"

Ted laughed and approached Marina, "Yeah, so it was you who sent Hans to get them." said Ted.

Marina nodded and gave the tags back to Ted, "Listen...we can still hear the music." said Marina and indeed the loud music from the party could still be heard from where they were. "I just didn't want to dance in front of all those people. But it's just us here. So if you still want that dance..."

Ted's eyes widened and he grinned, "Absolutely!" and Marina and Ted moved together, Ted taking Marina's left hand with his right, placing his left hand on her waist and they moved together slow dance style to the soft music playing in the background.

And as the song went on, Marina removed her hand from Teds and they moved even closer together, both of Teds hands around the back of her waist and her hands around his back, their heads side by side.

"Thank you for tonight." said Marina

"No problem...I've been wanting to talk to you for a long time now. So I should be thanking you." said Ted, "So what do you think about being friends?"

Marina stopped dancing and moved slightly away from Ted, and she remained silent. "I ain't had a friend for a very long time..."

"Well, everyone needs a friend." said Ted, "And I'd gladly be it."

Marina sighed nervously, closed her eyes and nodded. "Alright...but if you end up hurting me, like others have before...I will never forgive you."

Ted chuckled nervously, "Don't worry, I'd never do anything like that...Buddy" said Ted.

Marina nodded once more and Ted and Marina continued their slow dance into the night as the stars shone brightly in the sky above, the moon full and gleaming in the night sky.


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32- Song of the Darcsens**

Vyse and Aika were eating together in the mess hall. But as they ate, other soldiers, both militia and regulars were talking about some sort of holiday or festival that was coming up. Something called "The Feast of all spirits", and it seemed to be a festival of significant importance. But not being from Gallia or even Europa for that matter, Vyse and Aika both had no clue what it was about. And were curious to find out the answer, so as Vyse was chewing on some food, he began to look around for any of his squad mates or friends.

Karl and Lynn both happened to be walking past Aika and Vyse's table, so Vyse waved to them and caught their attention. "Hey guys, what's this upcoming holiday or festival that everyone is talking about?"

"Oh you mean 'The Feast of All spirits??" asked Lynn, smiling brightly

"Yeah, that one." said Aika, smiling back and pushing her empty plate forward, away from herself.

"So, what's the reason behind it??" asked Vyse, "Seems like it's pretty important to Gallians."

Lynn chuckled and grabbed ahold of Karl by the arm, rubbing her head against the side of his shoulder, cuddling up to him. "Well...it's a special holiday for couples and lovers in particular. It's when you give presents to the one you love."

"Oh..." said Aika, she turned to Vyse. "So I guess it's like Valentines day then."

"What's Valentines day??" asked Karl

"Oh nothing, just basically the same type of special occasion we have back home." said Aika.

"Well, it's not just for lovers or couples." said Karl, "It's a day when all the spirits in Gallia come together to their express their love for each other and that giving gifts to those you love came from that belief. So you can use this day to give gifts, cards or whatever you can think of to those who matter to you, such as friends or people of greater significance. So it's not a couples only kind of day."

"I see, thanks for the info." said Vyse, giving Lynn and Karl a thumbs up.

"Glad to of been of help and to have you two here on one of Gallia's most special days is an honor to us all." said Lynn. and with that Karl and Lynn departed from Vyse and Aika.

Vyse looked at Aika and smiled, "You know what, this is a very special chance for us." said Vyse, "We've made so many friends since we came here, but have been so busy fighting that we've never really gotten a chance to show what their friendship means to us. so let's use this day to show them how much they mean to us."

"Haha, yeah, I know what you mean Vyse baby." said Aika, "I still haven't thanked Nadine for these awesome red goggles she gave me, so let's get her and the others something nice."

Vyse and Aika then saw their friend Nadine entering the mess hall, with another Darcsen man walking beside her. And as they got closer they noticed who it was, it was the leader of the Fouzen resistance, Zaka. They were surprised to see him here, but understood that it was probably because of what happened at Fouzen. He still donned his Darcsen patterned shawl wrapped around his head, but now had a blue, red and white gallian militia uniform. He and Isara both seemed to be very proud Darcsens for wearing the Darcsen patterned shawl's all the time. Even if it made some people around them glare or shake their head in disapproval when they walked past them.

Later in the day, and with permission, Vyse and Aika were heading back to Randgriz city, for some gift shopping. But once they got there, the city itself was a buzz with activity as soldiers from the base and citizens from the city were running from store to store, searching for that perfect gift to get for their friends and loved ones. It certainly seemed to be a very important festival for all Gallians and this level of activity was proof of that.

Aika and Vyse spent over an hour searching for gifts for their friends. Aika was hitting the hardwear store for some fine pieces of wood, sandpaper and other things she'd need to construct a gift for Nadine. And afterwards, they returned to the base with some bags in hand, gifts inside of them for those friends they had made since they arrived in Gallia.

But as soon as they arrived back at the base, there was an order for all members of squad 7 to meet inside their barracks, so they quickly made their way over there. Once they entered the barracks, Welkin was standing up at the front with Alicia, Largo, Rosie and Isara.

"Alright everyone, gather around, new orders have come in." said Welkin, looking down at a clipboard in his hand. "Our new target, is located on Gallia's northern coast.", he turned to Alicia who was standing beside a large white board with recon photos of the Marberry shore plan. "Alicia, if you would please."

Alicia nodded and pointed to a large map of Gallia and to one of the black and white recon photos on the white board. "The enemy is entrenched along the shore, flanking the industrial region up north." explained Alicia, "We of Squad 7 have been ordered to suppress one of their camps."

But as the squad looked at the map and recon photos everyone gasped and exclaimed, and Largo spoke everyones thoughts for them. "Lookin' at that map, seems there's nothing but big cliffs and open sand, not many places to take cover as we charge the base is there."

Welkin nodded, "As the squad approaches the cliff, the beach slopes up steeply and their camp is located at the very top." said Welkin, "But the path leading into the base is very narrow, so we're going to have to rely mainly on infantry here, the Edelweiss won't be taking much part in this mission."

"Also, the cliff side has been lined with machine gun bunkers that are designed to shoot any incoming foot soldiers." added Alicia.

"So...we're going to have run across an open beach, while being shot at from machine gun bunkers... fighting uphill against a well entrenched enemy and without much support from the Edelweiss??" asked Cherry.

Welkin nodded, "Yes...sorry to say."

cherry sighed and placed her hand against her forehead, "Great...any other bad news."

"Cherry, we're soldiers you know." said Largo, "Plus, there's no such thing as a safe mission."

"Lay off Cherry, Largo." said Rosie, "I agree with her, this sounds crazy, but... orders are orders I guess."

Cherry smiled and gave a thumbs up, "Thanks Rosie, your like...the man!!"

Vyse lowered his head as Welkin continued going on, "Wow, sounds like a tough assignment...but a challenge is always good." and Vyse raised his head once more and grinned ear to ear.

Aika was also in deep though, and she heard Isara speaking softly to herself. "Hmm...a way to blind the enemy...there has to be a way to accomplish that."

"Wait, isn't tomorrow the Feast of All Spirits??" asked Audrey.

"Oh yeah...so it is." said Welkin, "Sorry 7's, we're still going to move out tomorrow, Feast of All spirits or not."

"Shame that we have to fight on such a special day like that." said Alicia.

The squad was then dismissed and everyone returned to their bunks, most of the soldiers leaving their gift bags on top of their footlockers at the front of their bunks and went to bed.

Early the next morning, Squad 7 was packing supplies and ammo into the back of one of the supply trucks that would accompany the squad to the Marberry coast. And as Aika was loading a box of ammo and grenades into one of the supply trucks, she noticed afew of squad 7 bringing their gift bags to the next truck behind the one Aika was at. Curious she made her way over and looked inside. And it seemed that the members were bringing their gifts with them anyways, the Festival of all Spirits was the next day after all. So before getting into the troop transport truck she was assigned to, Aika ran back inside and gathered her and Vyse's gift bags and put them into the back of the supply truck.

The Marberry shore mission was quite a far distance away, so the soldiers from squad 7 got into troop transport trucks rather then walking it. The Edelweiss was in the lead, with Zaka, who was now in squad 7 as well, driving a tank no less, which was following behind Welkin's tank, the troop transports were next and lastly, the supply and medical trucks. And together, the entire convoy made their way to the Marberry coast.

Many hours later, into the evening, before the sun was about to set, the entire squad was at a camp set up afew clicks outside of the Imperial camp that they would have to take. The camp itself was already set up and the members were all spread out in the camp, talking and laughing together, playing card games or even some were still working on their gifts for their friends or loved ones.

Aika was sitting on a fallen tree, just outside of the camp. She was in the middle of making Nadine's present, something familiar from where she was from but had never seen in all the time she spent in Gallia. So it seemed a fitting present for her friend, a gift from back home.

But as she was in the middle of sanding the object down, she began to hear a beautiful voice, singing a slow, almost sad sounding song. Curious, she set her gift down, got up and began to walk towards the singing voice. Soon she came up to where the Edelweiss and the Shamrock, Zaka's tank were. The singing voice was now very close, and now that she was closer, she heard that it was in fact 2 voices. So Aika walked around the side of the large Edelweiss and peeked around the corner of it. And she found that it was a very large group of Darcsens gathered together.

Isara and Nadine, were sitting side by side on top of one of the Edelweiss's tank treads with their legs hanging over the side, and they were sowing something as they sang. Isara would sing one verse of the song, and then Nadine would take the next verse of the song, sometimes they would sing together. One of the new replacements that Aika hadn't met yet was there as well. He was an older Darcsen male and he was leaning up against the Edelweiss with his arms crossed and eyes closed, listening to the song. Zaka was there as well, he was leaning up against his tank the Shamrock, hands in his pockets and was looking up at the stars in the sky as he listened to the song. And lastly, Lynn was sitting onto of the Shamrock tanks turret, hands held together in her lap, eyes closed and she slowly nodded her head to the song that Isara and Nadine were singing.

But rather then say hello and interupt their song, Aika remained where she was, hidden behind the Edelweiss and continued to listen to the beautiful song that Isara and Nadine were singing.

Just then something nudged the back of her boot and she jumped and gasped in surprise, upon turning she saw that it was Hans, who was looking up at her and oinking as if saying Hello. She also heard the singing stop, so she looked back and saw Isara and the rest of the Darcsens all looking at her.

"Well hello Aika." said Isara cheerfully, "What brings you here??"

Aika chuckled, rubbing the back of her neck, alittle ashamed that she was hiding, so she came out from her hiding place and started walking towards them. "Nothing, I just heard a beautiful song being sung and decided to come and see what it was."

Isara and Nadine were both back to sowing whatever it was they were sowing, but they nodded their heads to show they were listening.

"Did ya like it??" asked Zaka, hands still in his pockets. He also had one of his eyes closed most of the time, but Aika knew that he wasn't blind cuz he opened it up from time to time.

"Yeah I did." said Aika, "It was a very beautiful song."

"Thanks." said Nadine, she now held the item she was sowing and Aika saw that it was one of the Darcsen dolls she saw from earlier, Nadine was now inspecting the stitching.

"Yes, it's a nice song." said Isara, "One of my earliest memories is hearing my father sing it all the time, it's a Darcsen folk song."

"Oh, a Darcsen song?" asked Aika, head slightly tilted to one side

"Yes, it's a song about the Darcsens being forced to leave their homes and lands, and missing them dearly." said Wavy, the newest member to Squad 7.

"Oh..." said Aika, not sure what to say now, thought it was a beautiful song, the meaning behind it sounded very sad.

"Don't worry, we're actually glad that you got to hear it." said Nadine, going back to sowing the doll "There aren't many kind people like you who would tolerate us singing it. So we sing it when we are alone, or with our own kind, away from non-Darcsens."

"Yes, it's almost taboo to sing songs like this in public places or around non-Darcsens." said Lynn

Aika smiled again, "It was such a nice song, so I wouldn't hearing mind you singing it anytime you wanted."

Isara and Nadine stopped sowing and both smiled very brightly at Isara, Zaka smiled alittle bit as well as Wavy. Lynn held her hand against her chest a sign that she was extremely touched and grateful to Aika.

"Alright, we'll singing it for you again if you'd like." said Nadine, setting her doll down beside her.

"Though it's early, think of it as a gift from the Darcsens in squad 7 for the feast of all spirits to you, Aika." said Lynn, everyone nodded in agreement.

And everyone closed their eyes, Isara started "Never ending..." she sang softly and beautifully

"Light that is bright..." sang Nadine next

"Brightly shining tomorrow..." sang Lynn

"My heart is missing the village in secret..." sang Zaka and Wavy in unison

And together, everyone sang the song in 1 strong, proud voice "Even if my eyes are shedding tears, the sky is still deep blue!"

"No matter what happens to the world. Believe in love and walk down your rooooaaaadddd." the song ending on a beautiful slow, soft, long finale.

Everyone opened their eyes and smiled at one another, all eyes then tured to Aika. Aika had her hands held together in front of her chest, and to their surprise there were tears flowing down her cheeks as the song finished.

"What's wrong Aika?" asked Nadine, surprised as she leaped off of the tank and ran up to her.

Aika began to wipe her tears away, then pulled Nadine close to her, giving her a hug. "That's such a sad song..." cried Aika, "Your people have had to put up with so much, it's so sad."

Nadine hugged Aika back, stroking the back of Aika's head with her hand. "Don't worry about us Aika, we're strong and so long as we have each other, we can survive, even if we live in a world that hates us." said Nadine, "Also, it's thanks to people like you, who accept us for who we are that makes us feel all that much better."

All of the other Darcsen members surrounded Aika, patting her on the shoulder or head.

"Glad to see there are people out there who accept us as Darcsens." said Wavy

"Though your kind is rare, I'm extremely glad to have you with us." said Lynn

"I was glad to have you at Fouzen, and even more happy to be in the same unit as you now." said Zaka, patting Aika on the head.

"I'm glad that my brother chose to have you with us in Squad 7, your the most welcome addition to our squad." said Isara, she then reached into the back of her pack and pulled out something and handed it to Aika. "The festival isn't until tomorrow, but I'll give these to you now, I'll probably be too busy to find you tomorrow. Also I still have to track down Largo and Rosie and give them their gifts as well."

Aika looked down as Isara opened her hand, revealing 2 Darcsen protective charm dolls.

Isara just smiled as she always did, "Ones for you and the other is for your friend, Vyse."

"Oh, I know what this is." said Aika, taking the dolls and looking down at them. "It's a protective charm doll, said to bring good luck and protection to it's owner...thank you, I've always wanted one, ever since I first saw it.",

"Hehe, well, looks like you really do know a thing or 2 about Darcsen culture" laughed Lynn.

Just then, "Aika!!, Aika, where are you!!" shouted a voice.

"Hmm...who's that??" asked Wavy

"Oh, that's probably my best friend Vyse...oh that's right, I just took off and never told him where I was going. So he's probably worried." said Aika.

"Best get back to him then." said Zaka.

"Yeah, and Isara...thanks for the gift." said Aika, putting the doll into a back pouch on her belt. "Guess I'll see you all tomorrow, and I'll be sure to give you your gifts then."

"Alright, see you tomorrow." said Aika, waving to everyone as she ran through the trees to find Vyse. And soon enough she did, he had his back turned to her and he was looking around, scratching the top of his head, unable to find Aika. Aika grinned and ran at Vyse and as soon as she was close enough she jumped on his back, wrapping her arms around his neck and held onto him.

"Hey Baby, did ya miss me?" she asked while laughing.

Vyse laughed, "Yeah, I wondered where you went.", Aika then got off his back and reached back into her pouch, retrieving the two Darcsen dolls. She handed one to Vyse, "This is from Isara, an early gift for tomorrow's festival."

"Oh, it's one of those Darcsen dolls...the one's we saw at Romans grave site." said Vyse.

"Yeah, it's meant to protect us, probably for tomorrow's battle." said Aika.

"I forgot about Isara...so looks like I'm going to have to give a gift to her in return." said Vyse. Aika nodded in agreement.

"Still few hours till lights out, so I should have time to make another one, maybe I'll even stay up alittle later." said Aika

"Alright, let's get to work then." said Vyse, grinning as he lead Aika back to the squad's tent.

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**_Hey Readers, thanks for reading the newest chapter of my story. It's getting longer then I thought it was going to be, though I could finish it in less then 20 chapters but it's still going._**

**_Writers note: The song that Isara and the others are singing is straight from the anime, watch the start of episode 17 where Isara is singing the Darcsen folk song as she sows the doll and near the end of episode 18 where Rosie sings the song. Though it sounds better when sung in Japanese and I was going to have them sing it in Japanese and make it seem like it was a Darcsen language but decided against it._**

**_I decided to add it into my story cuz I love Darcsens and this song was awesome, so to know how the pace of the song went as they sing it in the story just watch those 2 episodes where they sing it._**


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33-Feast of All Spirits day**

The sun was beginning to rise on the day before the battle was scheduled to commence. But today would be planning and thinking of ways to attack the base. So this was a good thing, as it freed up many of the soldiers and allowed them time to give the gifts that they had either bought or made for their friends or loved one.

Aika and Vyse were eating in the mess hall tent, as were many other of squad 7's soldiers. More soldiers showed up over the course of the evening yesterday from different squads, as well as some regular soldiers. Turns out that the regulars were going to provide help...after Squad 7 had cleared the beach and taken out the machine gun bunkers covering the beach. The other militia squads were there to protect the camp while Squad 7 did there thing.

And as Vyse and Aika were nearly finished eating, they noticed many of the soldiers were passing gift bags or gift wrapped boxes to friends or the ones they liked. And Aika smiled, "Guess we better get our gifts ready once we're done here." said Aika to Vyse.

Vyse nodded, "Yeah, hope they like what we got them." said Vyse, grinning ear to ear.

Once they were done, they picked up their trays and were heading off together to give them to the cooks and dishwashers. And as Aika lead, Vyse walked behind her. He happened to look over and see Jann Walker, sitting across from Largo and he was offering him a simple brown bag, eagerly awaiting him to take it. But once Largo opened it, Vyse nearly burst out laughing. The gift that Jannhad got him was a cheetah patterned speedo no less.

"Oh my god..." laughed Vyse, bringing his hand up to his mouth to muffle his laughter.

"Hmm..what's up babe?" asked Aika, looking over her shoulder at Vyse and Vyse pointed and Aika nearly burst out laughing but she was able to hold it in along with Vyse until they were out of the tent and then they fell to their knees and began to laugh really hard, Aika even had to hold onto her stomach which was hurting from all of the laughter.

"Well...it's the thought that counts I guess." said Vyse, still laughing really hard.

Later Vyse and Aika both had their gift bags in hand and were walking around the camp, looking for their friends.

"So, what did you get Nadine??" asked Vyse, looking at the large bag she was carrying. But Aika pulled it away and held onto it.

"Hehe...that's a secret babe." said Aika, winking at Vyse, "Took me a long time to make, but I hope she likes it."

And as Aika and Vyse walked side by side, they happened to see Nadine speaking with Zaka by the Shamrock. They waved and caught her attention.

"Oh hey guys!!" shouted Nadine, waving to them. She then ran to the back of the Shamrock and came back with 1 small bag and one very long, large bag in hand. She ran up to Aika and Vyse, smiling at them and she then held up the bags. "This one's for you Aika." and she handed the smaller bag to Aika and the larger bag to Vyse.

"Thanks." said Aika, setting down the bags she was carrying and taking the gift bag from Nadine.

"Go ahead, open it up." said Nadine, tapping her fingers together nervously.

Both Aika and Vyse nodded and opened up their gift bags. Aika saw a small felt box and opened it up and she let out a very surprised gasp.

"I noticed that your ears were pierced, so thought I'd get you something nice." said Nadine.

Aika took one of the earrings out of the case and looked down at it, it had a small loop to hold onto the ear lobe and had some kind of a beautiful green crystal attached to it.

"It's made of rare, green ragnite crystals." explained Nadine, "Zaka worked in the mines and found some, so I asked him if he would help me make these for you."

"Oh Nadine...you didn't have to..." said Aika, smiling brightly at her gift, then at Nadine.

"Oh my!!" exclaimed Vyse as he opened his gift bag and slowly pulled out a cutlass sword. The handle was golden, the scabbard was black with gold markings and as he pulled the blade out, it was highly polished and shone brightly in the sun.

"Where in the world did you get something like this??" asked Vyse.

"Oh, my friend, Wavy helped me find it in Randgriz, bought it at some kind of knife and sword shop." said Nadine, "Also, Fina, the medic told me how you told her you were some kind of pirate back where you come from and from the books I read, pirates carry cutlasses with them so...you know, just thought you'd like it. Goes good with your eyepatch I think."

Aika felt alittle bad now, the present she was going to give Nadine was no where near as beautiful or expensive as the gifts she had gotten for them.

"Nadine...I'm sorry to say that what I got for you is nothing much compared to what you got us." said Aika, rubbing the back of her neck with her hand.

"Don't worry, your friendship is all I ask for." said Nadine, smiling.

"And you'll always have that." said Aika, "So...here's what else I got you." and Aika handed her gift bag to Nadine and she took it with both hands and opened it up.

"Wow...what is this??" she asked, pulling out a large, curved wooden object, she turned it over and over, seeing every detail of her gift.

Aika smiled and took it from her, "This, is called a Boomerang." said Aika, "A simple object, but when you practice enough like me, you'll learn to do this." And Aika drew her left hand back, ran a short distance and threw the boomerang with great force and it flew from her hand, spinning round and round in the air as it gained altitude and distance from Aika. It then carved through the air in a large arc and started to come back to Aika. Nadine was backing up alittle bit because it was coming right back towards them.

Aika just smiled, did a 360 spin, dropped to one knee and held her left hand up and caught the boomerang with her bare hand. She then got back up and walked to Nadine and gave her her gift back.

"It's just alittle something from back home, our home." said Aika, patting Vyse on the shoulder. "Sorry that it's nothing extraordinary like you gave us."

Nadine just smiled brightly and shook her head, "No, it means alot to me, just as much as your gifts do to you." said Nadine, "You have ragnite crystal earrings from my home country and I have something from your home country. So thank you so much, I love it."

Vyse then gave Nadine his gift bag and Nadine took it. She opened it up and pulled out a dark blue shirt and a red scarf. "It's a copy of the same shirt me and my group wear, our uniform, The Blue rouges." said Vyse, "Again, it ain't much, but it's from home."

Nadine smiled again, "Thanks Vyse, I'd love to hear more about where your from when we have the time." said Nadine. "Thank you both for the gifts, I'll treasure them forever."

"Treasure!?!" said Aika.

Vyse grinned, "Uh oh...you said the T word in front of Aika." said Vyse

Nadine chuckled, "You really are like pirates." laughed Nadine.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the camp, Marina was sitting on top of her cot in the squads barracks tent, reading a book. She heard footsteps approaching so she looked up and saw Ted walking towards her, his hands were behind his back.

"Yo Marina, you got a moment??" asked Ted.

Marina closed her book and set it on her lap, she then nodded her head.

"I got you something for the All Spirits Feastl, I hope you accept it." said Ted, revealing a purple bag.

Marina nodded and reached forward, taking the bag from him and opening it up. Inside was a medium sized teddy bear, holding onto a red heart. Ted reached down and pressed against the red heart and it opened up, it was infact a musical clock and it played a slow, almost sad sounding song as the second and minute hands ticked away. Marina closed the clocks cover and looked up at Ted. "Thanks." she said, she then reached under her cot with her hand and pulled out a small white bag and slide it along the ground with her boot towards Ted.

Ted picked up the bag and opened it up, he laughed once he saw what was inside. He reached in and pulled out a blue, red and white Jester hat with 4 points on it, bells attached to each point.

"Thanks, Now I'll be able to make people laugh with this for sure." said Ted, putting the hat on and bobbing his head side to side, the bell jingling loudly.

Outside, Vyse and Aika were walking around the camp, looking for Isara. But as they came to the Officers tents they heard a voice speaking, talking to Welkin it seemed. Vyse and Aika made their way over to the tent, since asking Welkin where Isara was would most likely lead them to her, he was her older brother after all. So if anyone knew where to find her, he would.

But as they rounded the tent, they saw Juno Coren speaking...to herself, she had a small bouquet of flowers in her hands and was talking to an invisible Welkin, practicing her posture, tone of voice and smile it seemed.

"You know Welkin I...no no." said Juno, taking a deep breath and sighing, "Listen Welkin, I got you these for the feast...no that doesn't sound right either. Hey Welkin, what's up...no, too informal.", Vyse and Aika smiled, it was clear that she was practicing her lines for how to give Welkin his gift.

"Yo, Juno, what's up??" said Aika, waving to her.

"Oh, Hey Aika." said Juno, hiding the bouquet behind her back, "Not much I was just...uh..."

"Sorry, we were kind of eaves dropping so we know what you were doing." said Aika, chuckling.

"Is Welkin around?" asked Vyse, looking around the area.

"No, but he should be back any minute." Said Juno, running her hand across her hair, adjusting her glasses as she pushed them up onto her nose with her fingers. "How do I look...presentable??"

"Don't worry Juno, you look pretty as always." said Aika, patting Juno on the shoulder for encouragement. "Just remember to breath and you'll do fine."

"Oh...here he comes now." said Vyse, head looking over his shoulder.

"Oh no..." said Juno nervously, "I don't think I can do this..."

Aika laughed and placed her hand on top of Junos' shoulder, "Relax, I know you can do it." said Aika, "So we'll leave you to it, I'm sure he'll appreciate the gift."

And Vyse and Aika left Juno, and continued to look for Isara.

Meanwhile Juno was hiding behind Welkin's tent, hand against her chest. Her heart was beating furiously as she took afew deep breaths and breathed out slowly, attempting to slow her heart rate down. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back, "Alright...here goes nothing." thought Juno, she then started to walk around the side of the tent to the front. "Wel-" started Juno, but she stopped once she was Alicia running towards Welkin's tent.

"Welkin!!, Welkin!!" shouted Alicia as she ran towards the tent, her hands were cupped together, her clothes and face were covered in dirt and as she got closer, Juno scooted back behind the tent and remained hidden as Alicia ran into Welkin's tent.  
and since it was a tent, Juno could hear them speaking to one another through the material.

"What happened to you Alicia??" said Welkin's voice, "Your covered in dirt..."

"Funny story about that, so I'll show you." said Alicia's voice, "Come and see, look real close at my hands.", Juno slowly tiptoed around the side of the tent as she continued to listen.

"That's... You found a mottled Vagabond, but they shouldn't be in Gallia at this time of year." said Welkin. "How did you ever find something so rare??"

"Hans helped me, we chased it here and there until we caught it." said Alicia.

Juno was now at the front of the tent, the flap was opened so she carefully peeked into the tent, seeing Alicia and Welkin standing close to each other, Welkin staring down into her hands.

"Alicia...thank you, getting to see such a rare specimen means alot." said Welkin.

"Not the most romantic gift, but I hear that if you give presents to the guy you like on the Feast of All Spirits...things will work out well for them." said Alicia in a shy sounding voice.

"Huh!?!...oh..." said Juno softly, her eyes looked off to the side as she sighed sadly, she turned on her heels, dropping her bouquet of flowers and slowly walked away.

"Well, I best be off, should wash and get changed, can't very well look like this since I'm a Sergeant." said Alicia, "I'll see ya later Welkin.", but as Alicia stepped out of the tent, something crunched under her foot. Alicia looked downand lifted her foot up and she saw a small bouquet of white flowers laying on the ground. So she bent down and picked them up, then looked around the area but no one could be seen.

"Hey Welkin...who do these belong to??" asked Alicia and Welkin came out and knelt next to Alicia.

He gasped, "Edelweiss flowers" said Welkin

"Edelweiss??, the same name as your tank??" said Alicia, looking over at Welkin.

"Yeah, but I haven't been able to find these for a very long time." said Welkin, "I keep a close eye out when I'm bug hunting. But they're quite a rare to find out in the wild...I wonder who dropped them here??"

Later, into the evening, Vyse and Aika were unable to find Isara, and they had heard from Lynn, who they met earlier that she was off doing some kind of secret project and would be going at it all day and into the night. So they returned to their squads tent and sat together on Vyses cot. They looked around and most of the squad mates were back inside the main barracks tent, cots lining each side of the tent. Some members were showing off their gifts, others were just receiving their gifts now.

Edy Nelson seemed to be bonding quite well with the new replacement engineer, Homer Peron. She even gave him a small gift wrapped box with a bow tied to it. And the new scout, Montley Leonard was standing in front of Elysse Moores cot. He seemed to be wanting to get along with her, which was funny, considering they were complete opposites in nearly every aspect. She spoke very slow and seem tired all the time, he spoke very fast and was full of energy. And he was giving a gift wrapped box to her. Elysse yawned long and loud before taking it. "Thank yyyoooouuuuu." she said.

Aisha Neumann was handing a piece of paper to Cathrine O'Hara. It was a hand painted portrait of herself and Cathrine O'Hara, the picture itself was childish in the way it was painted, but Cathrine loved it none the less. The two seemed almost mother and daughter type with how close they had become.

And in the corner of the tent, Juno Coren was laying down in her bunk, blanket covering her body and head. And even though it was kind of early and the other squad members were still up and talking, Juno was asleep in her cot, or so it seemed.

All in All the day seemed to go very well for some people, but for others, not so much. The squad was lucky to get a nice break like this and show their love for one another, for tomorrow, they would have to attack the Imperial base. For some...this might be the last good day they ever get to have.

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**_Hey Readers, had to cut this chapter short and skip the battle, leave it for another time. And it looks like I'm not going to be able to achieve my goal. I had hoped to finish this story before school starts, but school starts on tuesday and I'm going to be very busy until then, then I'll be even more busy when classes actually start. So enjoy this and the last chapter which I wrote and updates will probably slow down now :(_**

**_I'm sorry I couldn't include all the members in my gift exchanging chapter, but I included mine and others favorites. Would of written more but it's 2:00 A.M. here and I have to be up early to move tomorrow for school. Next chapter, Battle at the Marberry Shore._**


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34- A stunning victory and a crushing defeat**

Vyse, Aika were in the mess hall tent, eating breakfast. The mood in the tent itself was quiet, for soon the squad would launch their attack against the Imperial base at the Marberry Coast. Vyse was sure that everyone was scared, and that of course was a perfectly normal and expected reaction, for the squad still had no real bright ideas as to how to cross the beach and avoid the machine gun bunkers without serious casualties.

Even Vyse and Aika didn't say very much to each other as they sat together. This battle felt different for some reason, sure they had fought many times against the Imperials and won, but never had they gone against such a heavily defended Imperial camp.

As Vyse put another forkful of scrambled eggs into his mouth, he felt someone tap him on the shoulder. He turned and saw Karl, one of Squad 7's engineers. He was visibly trembling and looked scared out of his mind.

"Hey Vyse...Aika, m-mind if I s-s-sit down??" he asked

Vyse and Aika looked at each other, then nodded and Karl sat down across from them.

"I didn't know who else to go to ask this. Since I'm not too well liked around here." Said Karl. He was sweating and tapping his fingers together nervously.

"No problem, you can ask us anything you'd like." Said Aika, cheerfully.

Karl nodded and sighed deep and long, before taking off his gloved right hand. He looked down at the engagement ring on his finger, then took it off, never taking his eyes off of it. He looked Vyse straight in the eyes before saying, "Vyse...i-if anything should h-h-happen to me today...you make sure my fiancée Lynn gets this...She picked em out and all.", Karl looked over at Lynn who was sitting with Nadine, Wavy and Zaka at one of the tables nearby.

Aika brought her hand up to her mouth, shocked by what he was asking for. Seemed he didn't have much hope of surviving the battle that was about to come.

But Vyse, just shook his head , reached out and grabbed Karl softly by the back of the neck and pulled him close, looking deep into his eyes. "Don't talk like that Karl...you don't even joke about something like that. Now, put that ring back on, your going to survive today and get married. Remember that, fight for that and you'll make it today." Said Vyse, he then patted Karl on the shoulder.

"That's right, don't give up hope Karl." Added Aika, "I'm sure our commander, Welkin will think of something brilliant to save the day. He always does."

Karl nodded and put his ring back onto his finger, "Thanks guys, I guess my own worst enemy is myself when it comes into believing in myself." Said Karl, "Lynn wouldn't like hearing me say this kind of stuff anyways either so... Thank you, both of you." Karl then got up and left Vyse and Aika's table.

"Vyse, your something else." Said Aika as she smiled at Vyse. "You're always so brave and giving words of encouragement to others. You even helped me calm down a little after what you said to Karl."

Vyse gave Aika a big grin in response, then a thumbs up. "Yep, that's me."

Just then Largo and Rosie entered the tent, "Alright kids, get your butts outside now. Welkin is about to start the mission briefing." Said Largo.

Everyone nodded half-heartedly, finished up their meals and headed outside.

Soon enough, the entire squad was gathered just outside of the camp, near the Edelweiss and Shamrock. Welkin was standing in front of the Edelweiss, Isara standing next to him. There was also a table in front of them, with something covered with a blanket laid over it.

"Alright, looks like we're all here." Said Welkin, looking from squad mate to squad mate.

"Today's the day that we take out that Imperial base located at the top of those cliffs." Said Welkin, pointing to the beach approach and high cliffs of the Imperial base.

"I know that you are all scared and frightened for this upcoming battle." Said Welkin, "However, Isara has spent all day yesterday working on something that might make our job alot easier and safer."

There were afew curious responses from some of the squad members. Welkin then gestured to Isara with his opened hand. "Isara, if you would."

"Certainly Welks." Said Isara, she then grabbed hold of the blanket covering the object with both hands and gave a strong pull, revealing what was underneath.

And this time, there were even more surprised gasps as they looked at what appeared to be modified tank shells. "These here, are smoke rounds for the Edelweiss." Said Isara, "Once fired from the Edelweiss, they will explode on the ground and cover the immediate area in a thick blanket of smoke, that will linger in the area for a short while."

Vyse grinned ear to ear, "Giving us the time we need to run across that open beach and get past their toughest defences." Said Vyse.

Isara nodded, "Yes, I believe that with the help of these smoke rounds, we will make it harder, if not impossible for the enemy to know where we are as we approach. It may even save many lives this day... I do pray it does."

Vyse pumped his fist in the air, "come on guys, let's hear it for Isara!!" shouted Vyse and everyone raised their fists in the air and cheered loudly.

"Also, thanks to our boys in the R&D department, we've been given upgrades to our weapons. The scouts now have the ability to launch grenades from their new modified rifles, shock-troopers will now have flame throwers attached to their weapons, lancers will now have more powerful anti-tank lances, and snipers will be able to fire more accurate rifles. So with these and Isara's new invention, I believe that victory is within our reach."

Everyone cheered once again.

"Alright, then let's get down to planning." Said Welkin, and he, Alicia and Isara laid out the mission plan to the other members of Squad 7.

Once the mission briefing was finished, everyone headed back to the barracks and armory tent to get suited and loaded up on ammo and supplies for the mission.

Vyse and Aika were just about to head off as well when they saw Isara standing off by the Edelweiss, she looked kind of sad for some reason. So together they headed over to Isara.

"Yo, Isara, what's wrong??" asked Aika as she reached her.

"Oh hello Aika...nothing really." Said Isara, but the look in her eyes told them otherwise.

"Come on, something's bothering you. You can tell us." Said Vyse

"Well it's just that....I'm worried, for Rosie." Said Isara, looking at Rosie, a short distance away, she was loading an ammo clip into her machine gun and cocking it back.

"Worried...about Rosie??" said Aika, looking back at Rosie then at Isara once again.

"Yes, I gave her a Darcsen protective charm doll earlier as a gift for the Feast of All Spirits day...but she rejected it." Said Isara

"She rejected it...why??" asked Vyse

Isara now had some tears welling up in her eyes, "Isn't it obvious, it's because I am a Darcsen, she even told me so. She said 'I've not no need for presents from Dark-Hairs.' Is what she told me."

"Ah...that's harsh." Said Vyse, "I don't understand how anyone could hold that much prejudice against you when all you've ever done is try and be nice."

"I'm not too worried about what she thinks, it's the doll that I'm worried about. It was meant to protect her in today's mission. But It won't work if she doesn't have it on her." Said Isara, looking very worried at this point.

"I see...well tell ya what." Said Vyse, "I promise that I will keep an eye on her today, I'll protect her for you."

"Ya count me in on that, baby." Said Aika, patting Vyse on the shoulder and grinning from ear to ear.

"Really...you'd do that for me??" asked Isara, hands held together in front of her in a pleased manner.

Vyse chuckled, went up to Isara and began to ruffle her hair ontop of her head with his hand. "No problem Kiddo, we owe it to you for making something that makes our job so much easier today." Said Vyse

"Vyse...Aika, Thank you" said Isara

Later in the day, the entire squad was armed with their rifles, machine guns, lances and sniper rifles and dressed in their unit's battle gear, the engineers wearing all of their gear on their backs and pouches on their belt. All of them were laying down in a long, single behind a large sand dune, outside of the machine gun bunkers range. The Edelweiss was on one flank of the squad, the Shamrock was on the other.

The beach itself was just as everyone had feared. There was nothing but open sand, old explosion craters or other signs of damage from previous charges made by the Gallian main army. The only real place to take cover was behind a giant rock in the middle of the beach near the cliffs. The Imperials had also set up some defences to repel landing craft from a seat invasion and giant iron objects designed to halt tanks moving along the beach.

Nadine was laying on her stomach, head against the sand and she was praying silently. Aika was beside her, inhaling and exhaling slowly, she then reached into her back pouch, retrieved the protective charm doll that Isara had given her and looked down at it. She then looked over at Nadine, who had finished her prayer and she looked back. She saw the doll in Aika's hand and smiled, Aika smiled back and put it back into her back pouch.

Largo, who was beside Nadine, looked to both sides of the squad, "Alright, everyone, run as fast as you can once the Edelweiss fires it's smoke round. Got it??" asked Largo in a hushed whisper. Everyone nodded.

Alicia, who had Vyse on her right side and Rosie on her left side, slowly crawled along her stomach to the top of the sand dune, took out her binoculars and looked at the Imperial defences up ahead. There was a machine gun bunker on either side of the cliff opening that lead into the base, there were also scattered sand bag defences with Imperial soldiers and snipers behind it. Alicia then relayed this information to the others around her.

She then crawled back to her original position, behind the sand dune, next to Vyse and looked over. "Fix bayonets!!" Rosie whispered loudly. And the air filled with the sound of bayonets being retrieved from their scabbards and placed on the ends of their rifles or machine guns.

All eyes were then turned to the Edelweiss, which was concealed behind a giant boulder. Welkin was on the right flank, he had half his body out of the tank turret, taking one last look at the beach and Imperial defences up ahead. He lowered his binoculars and looked at his soldiers, doing a series of silent hand signs to everyone behind the dune.

Aika, who had studied the hand signs that the Militia used, watched Welkin's hands move and said silently, "Squad 7, prepare to move out.", once that was done Welkin disappeared into his tank, closing the hatch above.

Aika began to breath in and out loudly, psyching herself up for the charge that was about to come. Vyse was clenching his teeth together, tightening and loosening his grip around his machine gun stock as he looked towards the Edelweiss.

Everyone stopped breathing once they saw the Edelweiss's turret barrel began to rise up, preparing to fire its first smoke round. Vyse closed his eyes and concentrated on listening for the sound of the Edelweiss firing its main turret.

And a second later, * Poof*, the Edelweiss fired the first smoke round.

Vyse opened his eyes, "Let's go!!" he shouted and he was the first over the sand dune, Aika followed immediately behind him, both were running as fast as they could across the beach. Nadine was just about to dash over the sand dune next, before Largo grabbed her by the backpack and hauled her back behind the sand dune. "No no, wait for the smokescreen!!" ordered Largo.

"Gah...that idiot!!" said Rosie, looking over the sand dune at Vyse and Aika's running figures.

However, no smoke was being released from the first round fired, it was a dud. But Vyse and Aika didn't know that, they ran on ahead before they had a chance to find out.

At the same time, inside of the Edelweiss, Welkin was looking through the targeting scope of his tank and saw both Vyse and Aika running across the open beach. "Isara, what happened??"

"Ah... I'm sorry brother, that round seemed ineffective, next round loading in 10 seconds." Said Isara, as she turned a bunch of dials and flipped some switches in front of her.

"10 seconds...oh no." thought Welkin. Looking back through his scope he spotted Vyse and Aika's figures, which were now further away.

Aika who was just a step or two behind Vyse, she was looking from left to right, "Where's the smokescreen, where's the smokescreen!!" she asked aloud.

They were now close to the machine gun bunkers high above and she saw the machine gun barrels turn to take aim at them.

Aika quickened her pace and grabbed Vyse by the waist and they dove together behind a very large, round rock for cover. The machine gun's inside the bunker then began to pelt the rock with bullets, the Imperials behind the sand bags moved up to the sand bags and aimed their rifles towards the beach, to repel any other Gallian soldiers.

Bullets were now striking the rock and the sand around them, Aika brought her legs up to her body and held her hand over her head, to stop any of the rock chips from hitting the top of her exposed head, which were flying off in chunks as their cover was being pelted with bullets.

Vyse who had his back to the rock and was curled up like Aika was, looked back down the beach they had just come across, the rest of the squad was nowhere to be seen. Vyse shouted the Obvious into Aika's ear, "Where the hell is everyone!!"

Aika just shook her head and shrugged, "I don't know!!" she shouted back over the machine gun fire.

Vyse then said something unexpected, "Ooouuueee, Our heroes in trouble now, hehe!!"

Aika groaned loud enough to be heard over the gunfire going on, then smacked Vyse in the side of the head with her open palm, "So not the time for that now Vyse!!"

But thankfully, the next smoke round fired wasn't a dud. It exploded a short distance away from the rock, where they were sitting behind and a loud hissing sound could be heard from the round as thick, white smoke filled the air around them.

They could then hear the rest of their comrades, shouting and screaming as they made their way over to where Vyse and Aika were. The loud rumbling of the Edelweiss and Shamrock round also be heard, fast approaching.

"Oh gawd, I hope he knows where we are and doesn't run us over!!" shouted Vyse and he pulled Aika close.

The Edelweiss came into view and stopped beside Vyse and Aika. It fired its main cannon, which shook the sand and ground under Vyse and Aika's bodies with each loud blast of its barrel. Both of them also brought their hands up to their ears and groaned in pain from the sound of the blast.

The rest of the squad was also running and firing their rifles or machine guns as they ran past Vyse and Aika. Largo then appeared through the smoke, grabbed Vyse by the collar and pulled him up, slapping him across the head. "Be more careful kid, you almost got killed there." He lectured.

Rosie grabbed Aika and dragged her up as well, then released her and continued on. Vyse and Aika, who were now back to their senses ran to catch up with the rest of the squad.

Thankfully, once they entered the Imperial base, they saw that each and every squad members was there. Ducking behind sand bags, and firing their weapons at Imperials scattered around inside of the base. It seemed like the Imperials were taken by complete surprise at the speed which the squad had moved across the entire beach, cleared the main defences and were now firing at them inside of the base.

Once all the Imperials were killed in the area, immediately past the Machine gun bunkers, the squad gathered together.

Largo looked around the area, "Two paths...on leads up the other leads straight." Said Largo aloud.

He looked at Vyse, "Hey, Corporal Ingelbert!!. Gather a squad and head up that road there." Ordered Largo, "Rosie and I will take the rest of the squad and head through this small opening here."

"Yes sir!!." shouted Vyse. He looked around and soon enough, "Aika!, Nancy!, Ted!, Susie!, Wendy!, Alex!, Elysse!, Audrey! And Nadine!." And everyone called rushed forward and gathered around Vyse. "You all come with me, we're going up this way!"

"Snipers, cover us from those towers!!" ordered Vyse, pointing to a large wooden observation tower just in front of Vyses group. Marina and Cathrine nodded and ran towards the tower.

"Alright, let's get moving." Ordered Vyse and he lead his group up the sloping road, but stopped just short of going around the corner. The entire group all placed their backs against the rock wall as Vyse slowly moved forward along it and peeked around the corner. He saw a few Imperial engineers and some tank pilots trying to arm and start up one of the tanks they had. Clearly they weren't prepared for any action, most likely because no Gallians had ever breached their beach defences and made it this far in.

Vyse moved back behind the rock wall and looked back at his squad, "Alright, we got some soldiers and a tank, just around this corner." Said Vyse, everyone nodded. "Wendy, Alex spray down the area with a machine gun burst."

"Gotcha!" said Alex, giving a thumbs up.

"Aww...can't I chuck a grenade or two." Whined Wendy

"No, I want a quick burst to take out those soldiers and immediately after I want Audrey and Elysse to obliterate that tank, got it!!" said Vyse and once again everyone nodded.

"Alright, everyone get into position." Said Vyse.

The scouts and engineers moved back, while Vyse, Wendy and Alex gathered side by side, Elysse and Audrey just behind them, lances armed and ready to fire.

"NOW!!" ordered Vyse and the three shock troopers dove out of cover and sprayed down the area with machine gun fire, hitting the engineers and soldiers. They quickly moved to the sides, creating an opening for which Elysse and Audrey came through, lowered their large lances and fired off their rancaar anti-tank rounds. The rounds flew from their lances and struck the tank, blowing it sky high.

"Alright, let's keep going!!" ordered Vyse and he lead his group around the corner, but immediately they came up to a well placed machine gun bunker just a few meters ahead of them. Everyone was able to dive into a nearby trench that was both deep and L shaped, and no sooner did they get into the trench then did the machine gun bunker open fire, bullets flying over their heads as they hid inside of the trench.

Everyone ducked down and moved low along the trench, knees bent, trying to get closer to the machine gun bunker that was shooting at them. They then came to the end of the trench and everyone huddled together. Vyse reached into his pocket and got out a small round mirror, and removed his bayonet from the end of his rifle. He then asked Nadine for some duct tape from her engineers pack, which she gave him. And Vyse fashioned together a way to look over the trench without sticking his head out by using the mirror, attached to the bayonet to look around the area.

He spotted a machine gun bunker slightly to his right, a small enemy camp infront of them and a giant, heavy tank to his far left. And he thought of a plan and turned to his squad and everyone huddled together once again and looked at Vyse, some of the members were sweating, dirt and frim on their faces. Others breathing hard from all the fierce fighting they were doing.

"Alright guys, we got a bunker to the right, camp in the middle and heavy tank to the far left." Said Vyse, everyone nodded to show they understood. "Here's what I want to happen. Wendy, now you get to throw your grenade, I want you to chuck a grenade towards that bunker, force the troops inside to duck down. Next I want Alex to rush that bunker and burn out the imps inside with your flame thrower. At the same time, I want Nancy, Ted, Susie and Aika to shoot your grenades from your rifles, towards those imps behind the sandbags at the middle camp. And lastly, while all this is happening, I want Elysse and Audrey to fire at that heavy tank until it is gone, Nadine, you reload for them." Said Vyse, slightly out of breath after going through the plan quickly, "Everyone got that??", once again everyone nodded to show they understood the plan.

"Alright... GO!!" shouted Vyse and everyone followed the plan to the letter.

Wendy snickered as she pulled the safety cord from her grenade and threw it towards the bunker, there was an explosion soon afterwards and the machine gun bunker stopped firing. Soon as that happened, Alex ran out of the trench, stuck the barrel of his machine gun into the large, rectangular opening and squeezed the large trigger to his flame thrower. A long, burning flame shot out of the barrel and filled the inside of the bunker with flames, screams could be heard inside for a few moments before they stopped.

At the same time, Nancy, Aika and Ted aimed their rifles up at a high arc and one after the other the grenades shot out from the rifles, flew high in the sky before falling behind the sandbags. The following explosions threw Imperial soldiers all over the place.

However, Susie, didn't fire hers. Her hands were trembling and she lowered her head and rifle.

"Susie!!, what the heck do you think your doing. Stick to the plan!!" shouted Vyse

"but...I'm a pacifist!!" she cried, lowering her head even more in shame.

Elysse and Audrey were holding their large lances on top of their shoulders and fired off two rounds at the same time, the rounds struck the heavy tank and damaged the barrel and treads, the damaged tank spewed out thick black smoke.

Once all the teams completed their assignments a few of the Imperial soldiers who had survived the attack , threw down their weapons and held their hands high in the air. The tank pilot also got out of his tank. His face was black from the smoke spewing out of his tank, he had a gasp above his right eye and was coughing as he held his hands up and surrendered.

Vyses team all moved forward, out of the trench, never taking their guns off of the surrendering Imperials as they moved forward to secure them. Largo and Rosie's teams then joined them in the middle camp, things were looking well for them. All of the members were still alive and uninjured and both tanks were still up and running.

However, things would just get more challenging from this point on. For now, they were in an area where the Edelweiss or the Shamrock could not enter. For it was far too narrow for them to fit through any of the places the foot soldiers had moved through.

Soon, after everyone had caught their breath, re-stocked on ammo and supplies that they need. Were now ready to head back into the fighting. But the time they spent doing this, had more then likely given the Imperials time to strengthen their defences down in the lower base area.

The path they now had to take sloped downwards and to the left, with a machine gun bunker covering the approach. This however was destroyed by Elysse, Audrey and Rosina with ease, for they were still out of range but their lances could fire quite far.

"charge!!" shouted Largo, waving his large arm forward and everyone in the squad ran down the approach, screaming widly as they ran down the sloped trail leading towards the main Imperial base further down the road.

The only resistance down that road were a few shock troopers and some scouts. And while the rest of the squad charged towards them, Marina and Cathrine remained at the top of the sloping trail, sniping off some of the shock troopers and scouts behind the sand bags. And now being out numbered, the remaining 5 Imperial soldiers held up their hands and surrendered just as Squad 7's foot soldiers reached them.

The Edelweiss and the Shamrock did play a role in the battle. For any prisoners that were taken, were lead back to the Edelweiss and the shamrock which were now parked side by side and all of the prisoners taken were seated down in front of them, their backs to a rock wall, none dared make a break for it for fear of being mowed down by the tanks machine guns that were trained on them.

Meanwhile, Squad 7's foot soldiers halted their advance, for they now had the main Imperial base in sight, but it was protected by a narrow entrance with two machine gun bunkers covering the entry way just like the other entrance was covered.

"Yo boss, we could use another smoke round or two down here. We can't get into the base without your help." Said Largo into his radio.

"Understood." Said Welkin, "Here it comes."

The Edelweiss was on a close by upper level which overlooked where the squad was now waiting down below. But they could hear a whistling sound approaching, followed by a small explosion and a hissing sound as another smokescreen was forming just in front of the upper machine gun bunkers position.

And with their approach now hidden, Squad 7's soldiers made a mad dash to get inside of the base before the smoke screen dissipated and amazingly enough, no one was injured or killed, all made it inside.

The last of the opposition they faced were two tanks and a handful of either brave or foolish foot soldiers hiding behind sand bag defences, some buildings and tank hangers in the area around them. Squad 7 was opposite of them, hiding behind their own sandbags. Both sides then opened fire on each other.

And as Largo fired off a lancer round, he looked at the big building in front of them and noticed a small narrow path, a back alley type way to their right.

"Yo kid!" shouted Largo to Vyse, and Vyse stopped firing and ran over to Largo, "Take your squad and head down that way. I'm wiling to bet that it will lead behind those Imperials and that way we can flank em."

"Understood." Said Vyse with a quick salute, He then gathered his same team from before and headed down the said back alley way.

The squad slowly moved down the side alley, there were no Imperials insight, which made them nervous, why would they leave such a way open they thought??. But that question was soon answered when Vyse looked down at the ground, "Everyone FREEZE!!" he ordered and everyone stopped in their tracks and not a moment too soon.

The way was lined with mines and Alex and Nancy had just missed stepping on one each before Vyse shouted the order to stop. Gunfire and explosions were still going on back where the rest of the squad was. "Got to get behind them." Said Vyse aloud. He then tured to Nadine, "Nadine, head back and get Dallas and Karl, we've got to disarm these mines and get this way open, got it??"

Nadine stood up straight and gave a salute, "Right away sir!!" and Nadine turned and ran as fast as she could back to the squad. She returned with 2 more engineers by her sides.

"Alright guys, we don't have much time. So get to disarming these mines, not all of them, just enough so that we can slip through and flank those imps from behind." Said Vyse.

The engineers nodded, moved forward and began to disarm the mines as quick as they could. And soon enough there was a path open for them, but just as Nadine finished disarming the last mine she happened to look up and see an Imperial soldier come around the corner of the building.

"Oh no, they're coming to flank us." He said, raising his machine gun and taking aim at the engineers. But he was shot dead by Vyse before he had a chance to shoot Nadine or the other engineers.

Nadine held her hand against her chest and sighed deep and long in relief "Thanks Vyse, you're a life saver." Said Nadine, giving Vyse a thumbs up.

Vyse just smiled and moved with the rest of the squad to the corner of the building. Vyse slowly leaned out and looked around the corner, spotting the two tanks and soldiers behind the sandbags still firing at their comrades at the front of the building.

"Alright, tanks taken out first, soldiers next." Ordered Vyse.

Elysse and Audrey then moved around the corner, lowered their long lances into firing position and fired. Their rounds flew from their lances and both slammed into the glowing blue tank radiators, sending the two tanks up into large fireballs. The explosion surprised the Imperial soldiers behind the sandbags and before they knew it they were hit on both sides by machine gun and rifle fire from the front by the charging soldiers on Largo's team and from the side by Vyse's, all but 3 were killed and they wisely opted for surrender. And the base was now Squad 7's for the taking.

Later in the day, the squad was celebrating their amazing victory down in the lower base. The Imperial flag on the flag pole was switched for a red, blue and white Gallian flag. The senior officers were talking together, and the Edelweiss was now down in the lower level of the base. Welkin was talking to Alicia, Largo was having a victory cigarette , Zaka was sitting on top of the Edelweiss looking out at the base they had just taken over and Isara was doing what she was seen doing more often than anything, maintenance on the Edelweiss. The rest of the squad was inside the main building, raiding the food stores for a victory meal.

Vyse and Aika outside, near the Edelweiss and were both looking up at the Gallian flag, with a somewhat sense of pride. They weren't Gallians, but still it felt good to know that they had helped take that base with no casualties.

"Well babe...we did it, and it's all thanks to Isara." Said Aika

"I'll say, she's a genius for thinking of something that saved everyone's life today." Said Vyse

Both of them turned and smiled at Isara as she was fixing one of the tanks treads.

"Oh...what's this??" asked Aika aloud, and she saw Rosie heading towards Isara

"Uh oh...not now of all times." Thought Vyse, thinking Rosie was going up to Isara to start some trouble once again.

"How can that woman have so much hate for Darcsens, even after what she had witnessed at Fouzen!!" said Aika, kind of angry herself.

"Even after Isara worked so hard on something that probably saved her life today. Well...I'll go defend Isara." Said Vyse, taking a step towards Isara and Rosie.

but Aika had grabbed Vyse by the arm, stopping him,"No Vyse wait...look." said Aika, pointing at Rosie and Isara. And much to their surprised the two were actually...talking. And the duo couldn't help but have their mouths drop open in amazement, Rosie wasn't harassing Isara or saying anything mean or hurtful this time.

And as they looked on they slowly began to walk towards Rosie and Isara. As they got closer they noticed Rosie hold up the Darcsen protective charm doll, showing it to Isara and thanking her for it.

"You mean the doll I made??" said Isara, "I didn't know you actually kept it."

"Wow..she really did have the doll with her today." Said Vyse

Aika couldn't help but tear up a little as she watched the two, getting along for the first time. "This is amazing, I never thought I'd ever get to see Rosie and Isara talk to one another so peacefully."

Meanwhile, "Since you gave me something for the feast, I think I owe you one." Said Rosie, "so anything you want, just name it and it's yours."

Isara crossed one arm across her stomach and her other hand up against her chin, "Let me think..." she said, pondering "you know what, I'd really like to hear you sing."

"You want me... to sing?" asked Rosie, pointing to herself

"Yeah, I've always wanted to hear you sing, ever since you first said you used to be a singer. You seemed to enjoy it so I'd like to hear you sometime." Said Isara

"I guess a person really can change their opinion of someone." Said Vyse to Aika.

"Yeah, and I'm glad she did. All Isara has ever wanted was to be Rosie's friend...now, it looks like her dream has finally come true." Said Aika, wiping a tear away from her eye.

"Alright, it's a deal." Said Rosie to Isara and she moved her hand forward to finally shake Isara's hand for the first time. Vyse and Aika's smiles grew bigger and bigger as the two moved to shake hands.

*KABANG*

And Isara's hand froze, next she fell to the side and hit the ground had. Rosie's expression was one of complete shock as she looked down at Isara.

"Wha-!!" said Aika, looking around the area.

"Oh no...the Imperials are back!!" said Vyse, Largo saw them as well.

There were only a few, making a possible suicidal attack on Squad 7 for killing all their comrades.

Aika looked at the Imperials, then down at Isara who was hit. "No, Isara!!" said Aika,but Vyse grabbed her and pulled her along with him as bullets flew past them, they then got behind one of the storage sheds nearby.

Aika struggled to break free from Vyses iron grip, "Let me go Vyse, Isara's been hit!!" screamed Aika.

"You think I don't know that!!" said Vyse, "But we're unarmed right now, what can you do for her without a weapon."

"But we have to help her!!" said Aika.

"I know Aika but...if you go out there, you could be hit as well. I already thought I lost you once, I won't lose you again." Said Vyse, and Aika stopped struggling.

Just then the firing had stopped and both Vyse and Aika looked around the corner and saw the Imperial soldiers running away, their attack was nothing more than a cowardly hit and run. But they had hit possibly the only person more important to the squad then Welkin and that was Isara, the tank pilot.

Vyse and Aika came out and looked towards Isara, Rosie was with her now, holding onto her hand as Isara remained on the ground, badly wounded. The rest of the senior officers had now also gathered around Isara and Rosie.

"Oh no...no, not Isara." Said Aika, hands held up against her face, tears flowing down her cheeks.

Vyse reached over and pulled Aika close to him, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and holding on to her. He also had tears in his eyes.

And sadly, before help could arrive, Isara had passed away, but not before saying her goodbyes to Welkin and the other's. Today's victory was short lived, they may have won the battle that day, but had lost a dear friend at the same time.


	35. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35- Sibling Ties**

The day of Isara Gunthers' funeral was a dark, cloudy and gloomy day. Her Casket had just been lowered into the ground and had yet to be filled in with dirt, a Darcsen patterned blanket was laying on top of her casket. Gathered around the opening were mourning members of Squad 7 and a few members from Squad 1, Faldio's squad.

Being a good friend to Welkin Gunther, he chose to have his squad participate in the funeral to show his support for his friend. But there were other's from squad 1 who just stood silent with everyone else, even others who just stood on the road at the bottom of the hill were the funeral was taking place. This was made up of members who either didn't know Isara well enough to mourn for her or were Darcsen haters in the first place and wouldn't mourn for one.

Members like Cezary Regard, Rosina and Theold and a few other's were just standing in a circle, smoking cigarettes and remaining quiet as they waited for the funeral to be over.

Aika Thompson was crying hard as tears flowed down her cheeks. Vyse was standing behind her, arms wrapped around her waist, chin resting on her shoulder as he comforted her. He was crying as well, the glass eye piece from his patch was beginning to fill with tears, so he took his patch off to let the tears flow out more properly.

"Isara…I'm so sorry." said Vyse softly, "I should have been watching out for you as well that day, I was too focused on protecting Rosie for you."

"Why…why did someone so good have to die…" asked Aika in between sobs "Why did someone so young and full of potential have to be taken away from us??"

Vyse shook his head, "I don't know…it's so unfair…"

Vyse looked to his right and saw Nadine, who was kneeling down in front of Isaras' grave. She was looking down at Isara's grave, but wasn't crying. Her expression was blank, perhaps from the shock of losing someone so close to her. Welkin, Isara's own brother was the same way, he showed no real emotion other then blankness.

Vyse let go of Aika and went over to Nadine, placing his hand on top of her shoulder in sympathy.

There was a soft rumble of thunder and a single drop of rain fell from the sky, followed by more and more until a soft down pour began to fall. Members like Zaka, Wavy, Lynn, Karl and Nadine all looked upwards.

"Rain?" asked Karl

Zaka shook his head, "Even the heavens begin to weep for Isara…" said Zaka, lowering his head once again.

Nadine lowered her head, "Even the heavens cry….but I can't…" thought Nadine

Shortly after the funeral was called to an end, slowly one by one the soldiers began to leave Isara's gravesite. Karl, Lynn, Wavy, Nadine, Vyse and Aika walked together in a large group back to base. No words were exchanged as everyone walked in silence.

Just than they began to walk past a tree on the side of the road. Standing next to that tree was Cezary Regard, Rosina, Theold and another male and female soldier from Squad 1. Cezary looked over and smiled slightly, the cigarette moving slightly upwards with his smile.

"Ironic isn't it??" he asked, everyone in Vyse and Aika's group stopped walking and looked over at Cezary and his group.

"The Darcsen kid who spends each battle, protected inside of her tank is the one who gets killed with a single bullet." said Cezary, "Man what a way to go…"

Everyone gasped in shock at the insult, "What the hell did you say?!?" asked Vyse angrily, Aika grabbing a hold of his arm to hold him back.

"Nothing, just seems like a brutal way to go." replied Cezary

"How could you say such a thing?" asked Lynn, balling up her fist in anger, "Someone died and all you can do is insult them??"

"Hey, it's only a Dark-hair who went, no one too important" said the other male soldier from Squad 1

"One less in this world that doesn't want them." said the female soldier from squad 1

Vyse lowered his head, balling up his fists which were shaking in anger. He then raised his head, anger burning in his eyes "Damn it ALL!!" he screamed, breaking away from Aika's grip and rushing towards Cezary, who seemed surprised by his quick advance. Vyse then grabbed Cezary by the waist, raising him off of the ground and falling to the ground with him. Once they were on the ground, Vyse began to punch him over and over again.

But Theold was quick to grab Vyse by the collar of his uniform and raise him off of Cezary, then applying a rear chock hold. Cezary was now back on his feet, his lip cut from one of the punches given to him by Vyse. Behind Theold and Vyse, the other's from Vyse's group were grappling and wrestling with the other Darcsen haters.

Aika, Nadine and Lynn were all having a hard time taking on Rosina, the muscular lancer from Squad 7. Lynn was on top of her back, arms wrapped around her neck, Nadine was being chocked from behind by Rosina and struggling to get free, while Aika was holding onto her left leg by the thigh, trying to trip her.

Wavy was exchanging punches with the other male soldier from squad 1.

Cezary glared angrily at Vyse, then rushed at Vyse as Theold held him for Cezary. He then drew his hand back and delivered a punch so hard it shattered Vyse's glass eye piece, the shattering of the glass seemed to echo loudly as it broke.

Vyse clenched his teeth together angrily, then threw his head back in rage, slamming it into of into Theold's face. Once he was free he ran forward and tackled Cezary once again and the two began to wrestle on the ground once again.

Suddenly a Jeep pulled up to the two fighting groups and a gunshot went off, this caused everyone to immediately stop fighting and look towards the gunshot. They saw Captain Varrot holding a pistol pointed towards the sky, some smoke coming out of the barrel. She was glaring angrily at both of the groups.

"And just what is going on here??" she asked as she got out of the jeep, everyone came to the position of attention and remained silent. "No explanation?…so be it, everyone here is ordered to report to the stockades and remain there for the next 24 hours."

"That won't be necessary ma'am" said Welkin's' voice. Captain Varrot turned and saw Welkin, Alicia and Faldio running towards the jeep.

"What was that Lieutenant??" asked Varrot in an angry tone

"Oh…just a soldiers fight ma'am." said Welkin, "I'm sure emotions are running pretty high right now with the death of Isara…otherwise I don't expect this would of happened in the first place."

"Agreed, don't worry Ma'am, we'll deal with our soldiers in our own manner of punishment." added Faldio.

"Very well, since this fight was probably over your younger sister, I'll leave the punishment to you." said Varrot, and with that she climbed back into her jeep and it took her back to the main base.

Welkin sighed loudly and walked up to his formed up soldiers, Faldio doing the same.

"What am I going to do with you??" asked Welkin plainly

"sir, Cezary started it, he said-" started Vyse but he was cut off by Welkin's raised hand, commanding him to stop

"I don't care, now's not the time to be fighting amongst each other." said Welkin, "I know all about Cezary's hatred of Darcsens. And I know she wouldn't want you to respond with violence."

"Now, it would seem that you are all to be charged with assaulting a fellow soldier, during a time of war…which if memory recalls…carries a sentence that is quite severe." said welkin as he walked up and down the line of his formed up soldiers. But Welkin just shook his head, "Get back to base, you'll all be doing chores the moment you get back, understood??"

"Sir!!" said everyone in unison, giving a salute at the same time.

"Chores?!?" said Faldio, quite surprised, "That's your idea of punishment??"

"You deal with your squad the way you want, and I'll deal with mine…alright??" said Welkin, Faldio just smiled and nodded.

"Well, can't say I'll be as kind with my men as you, but whatever you think is best." said Faldio, he then went on to disciplining his men, with plenty of yelling and ordering around as Welkin and his group walked away.

Meanwhile Vyse raised his hand to his head, touching his broken eye piece, the strap was starting to rip near the eye piece, so he took it off and threw it to the ground in front of him, stepping on it without a care in the world, breaking it even further.

But Aika gasped and ran up to Vyse and stopped him, "Vyse?!?, what in the world are you doing…to something so precious??"

"That old thing??" asked Vyse, breaking Aika's gaze and continuing on past her, "It's something I can handle losing…besides, it's my fault it got broken."

Aika gasped at Vyse's attitude, looked back at his signature eye patch he always, that now lay in pieces on the ground behind them. But she understood what he meant, they had just lost Isara after all, a good friend and comrade. What is losing something so small to losing someone so precious??. Aika sighed and jogged forward to catch up with Vyse.

Meanwhile Lynn who was walking with Karl a short distance behind Vyse and Aika, stopped in front of Vyse's broken eye patch, bent down on one knee and picked it up off the ground. She began to gather all the small pieces into her hands. She looked down at them, then over at Karl who had knelt down beside her as well. Both looked down the road at Vyse and Aika as they walked away.

Later into the evening, all the members from Squad 7 who had gotten into the fist fight were spread out all over the base. Vyse and Aika were in the rec room, Vyse was sweeping the floors with a large push broom, Aika was cleaning the table tops with a wet rag from a nearby bucket, filled with soap and water.

But as she was moving the rag back and forth, her eyes kept on glancing over at Vyse, who had his head down as he walked up and down the rec room with the push broom in front of him. She chuckled and blushed a little, Vyse raised his head up and looked over at her.

"What's so funny, Aika Baby??" asked Vyse, stopped and looking over at Aika.

"Oh nothing, it's just that, it's been so long since I've seen both of your eyes by themselves." said Aika, "I had forgotten how pretty they looked together."

Vyse chuckled and shook his head, "Thanks baby, you really know how to cheer a guy up in his time of need."

Meanwhile, not too far away at the tank hangers, Nadine was working on servicing a tank. She wasn't paying too much attention to what she was doing as she worked on loosening some bolts on the tread, her mind was on Isara. But her attention came back once she came up to a stubborn bolt that wasn't loosening like the others. She tried and tried to loosening it and was starting to lose her patience.

"Come on damn it!!" growled Nadine through clenched teeth as her hands shook with effort as she tried to force the bolt to come loose.

Just then the bolt came loosen suddenly and Nadine flew forward and slammed her forehead into the tanks wheels. She cried out in pain and immediately brought her hand up to her forehead. She got to her feet and breathed in deep and angry after times, pacing around the room as well. She then let out a scream of rage and started to kick the tank tread over and over again, she then whipped around and threw the wrench towards the back of the shop. It flew from her hand and struck a nearby tool shed, scattering a few tools from their places on the tool rack, she then kicked the toolbox that was next to her across the room, nearly taking out Hans who was sleeping onto of the Edelweiss nearby. He immediately began to squeal in fear and went bounding out of the tank hanger.

Shortly afterwards, as Vyse dumping a few trash bins into a large black garbage bag that Aika was holding open for him, they both stopped and looked around, hearing a rather strange noise.

Hans then came bursting through the front doors, slipping and spinning around in circles towards Aika and Vyse on the freshly mopped floors, he then came to a halt near Aika and Vyse, got up and began to bounce up and down, flapping his little wings. "Moink!, Moink!!, Moink!!!" squealed Hans

"what's wrong boy??" asked Aika, kneeling down next to Hans and petting him on the head.

"Oh boy…that's one worked up pig." said Vyse, Hans little eyebrows furrowed and he began to squeal in what sounded like anger.

"Enough Vyse, something's wrong." said Aika, Hans then spun around in a circle a few times and motioned his head towards the door, then took off running.

"Obviously wants us to follow him." said Vyse, Aika nodded in agreement and followed Vyse as they ran after Hans who was a short distance ahead of them.

Soon, they came to the tank hanger and saw Nadine going berserk, tearing the shop apart. Wavy was there as well, he was trying to calm her down, but keeping his distance from her, for she was swinging a pipe around, hitting things.

"Nadine!!" shouted Vyse, approaching her, hands held up in front of him.

Nadine continued swinging the pipe around, hitting buckets and cans off of a nearby table top as she screamed angrily, lost in a blind rage. Vyse, Aika and Wavy all slowly made their way towards her, making sure to stay out of range of the pipe in her hands.

Meanwhile, in Nadine's mind, every time she swung the pipe around and hit something, a memory flashed through her mind. Such as her and Isara together, the sight of the burned down Darcsen concentration camp she witnessed before, and even moments where she was bullied and beaten up just for being Darcsen as a kid. All of the emotions she held in because of her Darcsen beliefs of non-violence had finally burst forward.

Just then she started to hear something,, "-ine, -adine, Nadine!!", and she stopped swinging the pipe around and wiped her head back, seeing Vyse, Aika and Wavy all staring at her wide eyed. She also looked around the shop that she had just destroyed. Her arms also hurt so much that she dropped the pipe to the ground, her arms falling to her sides, she couldn't even raise them anymore.

"Nadine. What happened??" asked Vyse, moving closer to her, and placing his hands against her arms, causing her to wince in pain.

Nadine looked down at the ground, slowly shaking her had back and forth, some sweating falling from her forehead and down her cheeks. "I don't know… I just… snapped" said Nadine.

"I had no idea you were holding in so much anger…" said Wavy, standing next to her. "I'm sorry, I should of taken better care of you during your mourning process."

Nadine lowered her head, "No…I'm not mourning, I'm not even sad… though I should be." said Nadine. "All I feel is anger… I wasn't there when she died."

"Not many of us were…" said Aika, looking of to the side sadly.

"It happened so suddenly, no one could of expected that to happen." said Vyse.

Nadine shook her head, "I can't believe the last thing I said to her was…'What kind of sandwich do you want?'" said Nadine, clenching her fists together, "If I hadn't of left her side at that moment…I could have been there, I could of saved her. Because I was supposed to help her service the Edelweiss."

Vyse shook his head, "No, I don't think you being there would of changed what happened." said Vyse, he looked over at Aika, "Both of us were nearby and we couldn't do anything. She was hit so suddenly and unexpectedly that we didn't even see the Imperials until after she was hit."

"Don't blame yourself Nadine, it's no one's fault." said Wavy.

Nadine lowered her head and nodded once again.

Just then Welkin came walking into the tank hanger, still a blank look on his face. "What happened here??" he asked, walking past Vyse, Nadine, Aika and Wavy, towards the Edelweiss. There were some stray tools from the tool box that Nadine kicked over on top of the Edelweiss, which he began to pick up and chuck off of his sister's tank. Nadine finally saw what she did and ran up to help him.

"Oh sir…I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to." said Nadine, there was a big glob of Oil splashed against the side of one of the tank treads from a nearby oil can that was on it's side, oil spilling out. Nadine immediately knelt down and began to try and rub it off with some nearby shop towels.

Welkin then gasped as he looked down at Nadine. From behind, she looked a lot like his younger sister. Nadine was Darcsen after all, she even had the same hairstyle, color and length similar to that of Isara. As he watch Nadine, it was just as he remembered how Isara looked as he watched her work on the Edelweiss many times before. He even had a momentary flash of Isara from behind, working on the Edelweiss in her shawl, complete with some oily patches all over it.

Welkin brought his hand up to his forehead, closed and breath in deep.

"Sir??" asked Nadine, standing up once more and facing him, she had a patch of oil smudged on the side of her cheek and another small one across her forehead, and once again another flash of Isara flashed in Welkin's mind, this time of Isara turning and looking at Welkin with the same oil smudged face and shawl, smiling and saying "Welks!"

Welkin shook his head, "Nothing… are you doing alright??" asked Welkin, looking down at Nadine.

Nadine nodded and lowered her head, "I'm…doing alright sir" said Nadine, "Just haven't been able to cry since…"

Welkin closed his eyes tight, and without warning he reached forward, pulling Nadine close to him and hugged her. Nadine gasped in surprise, "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…" said Welkin.

Vyse looked at Aika in surprise, she returned the surprised look.

"Do…do you mind if I hold you like this…for just a little longer??" asked Welkin, his voice cracking slightly in sadness. Nadine's heart was racing, but she managed to shake her head slowly. Welkin then began to softly stroke the back of Nadine's' head. He opened his teary eyes, looking down at the top of Nadine's head and once more, Isara's imaged flashed in front of him, now wearing her shawl once more.

"Isara…" said Welkin softly

Nadine gasped in surprise, she finally realized what was going on. Her own eyes began to tear up, then two tear drops began to trickle down the sides of her eyes as she began to cry softly.

"She reminds him of his sister…" said Wavy softly, Vyse and Aika already knew this but they nodded in agreement. They then continued to watch the sad embrace between Nadine and Welkin.

* * *

**_Hey Readers, sorry for the EXTREMELY long delay between chapters, but I've been sick since September and have done nothing but sleep, recover and take so many different meds to help me get better. I'm just starting to feel better, but unfortunately had to drop out of University cuz of my sickness. Which may be good for you readers, cuz I'm gonna continue the story now that I don't have to worry about school for awhile...so hope your ready for the story to continue._**

**_NOTE: in the game, there's a potential for Welkin called "Sibling Ties" which is activated whenever Welkin is near a Darcsen member of squad 7...thought I'd work that into the story, also as a way to allow Welkin and Nadine a way to finally shed some tears that they can't let out otherwise._**


	36. Chapter 36

**_Hey Readers, just thought I'd stop and say, thank you for all the wonderful, helpful and kind comments throughtout this story. I still love writing it, maybe one day I will go back and revise every single chapter. Truth be told, I was in RUSH mode because I started it afew months before University was supposed to start and I wanted to try and get it done before school started. So I was just dishing out chapters as fast as I could to get it done and out of the way before school. But now that it's going to be an entire year before I go back next fall...I can just relax and worry about nothing but work and...work...schools no longer a concern till next fall. So I'm going to try and concentrate on detail, pace, story and everything else that I should of long ago._**

**_But enough authors notes, on to the story, enjoy!!_**

**Chapter 36- Sniper's dread**

It was another day of training at the militia base of Amatarian, located just outside of Randgriz city. Squad 7 was going through some bayonet drills with a female drill instructor, who had dark brown hair, very pale skin and the eyes of a serpent. Her name was Jane Turner, chosen by Drill instructor Rodriguez to help fill in temporarily as assistant instructor to Squad 7 and she certainly was a strict one. She walked up and down the line of soldiers as they went from one position to the next.

"Thrust!" she screamed, and everyone on the line thrust their bayonet blade, which was attached to the end of their rifle into the giant bag target, filled with straw.

"Develop!", and everyone twisted their rifle to the left, tearing into the bag.

"Guard!" and everyone pulled the bayonet blade back out of the target and brought it back into the 1st position, at the ready.

But Jane's eyes wandered over to a particular female soldier with blonde hair and a giant pink bow tied to the back of her hair. Her form, power behind her thrusting was extremely poor. she made her way over and stood behind her.

"What's your name soldier?" she asked, and the soldier turned around and looked at Jane.

"M-my name is S-s-su-" stammered Susie Evans, Jane could see the rifle shaking in her hands

"Why do you tremble before me as if I were an Imperial or even worse, a Valkyria!!." yelled Jane, Susie cowered back a few steps.

"By the…are you really a soldier??" asked Jane, she then grabbed Susie by the sleeve of her uniform and moved her back in front of the target for her bayonet training. "Now, get into ready position!!"

Susie nodded and got into guard position, "Thrust!" and Susie stabbed the target with her rifle bayonet, "Develop!" and Susie tried to twist her rifle, but her forward hand slipped, she quickly brought her hand back up and twisted her rifle finally. Jane rolled her eyes, "Guard!" and Susie retrieved the bayonet out of the target and brought it back into guard position.

"By the Valkyrur, I have never seen such poor form in my entire life." scolded Jane, Susie looked away. Jane then looked closer at Susie's face, getting very close to her, Susie whimpered in fear. "What's this…eye shadow, blush, lipstick…what do you think this is, Dancing School??"

Meanwhile all of the other soldiers had stopped training and were looking in the direction of Jane and Susie, this included Alicia Melchiott, who had just happened to be passing through.

"Are you royalty?, or Nobility or something??" asked Jane, walking around Susie in a circle, Jane then looked at Susie's hair and judging by how curly, shiny and proper it looked, bow-tie and all, Jane wasn't wrong. "You must be royalty, well that won't get you anywhere here!!".

"Time to see if you got what it takes to be a real soldier." said Jane and she grabbed Susie by the collar of her uniform jacket and began to lead her to a larger, more open space, Susie was stumbling and staggering as she was being dragged, her rifle dragging along the ground in her right hand . Other squad 7 soldiers in Jane's way quickly moved aside, clearing a path for Jane. They had no desire to get in her way.

Soon Jane found a large space and let go of Susie, who quickly recovered her rifle and held it in two, very trembling hands. Jane then took a few steps away from Susie and turned around.

"Now, stab me." instructed Jane, pointing to her chest.

"W-what?!?" asked Susie, her hands trembling even more, everyone could now see the rifle barrel shaking in her hands.

"Did you not hear, I said Stab me" repeated Jane, her eyes brows furrowed in an angry manner.

Susie looked around at the soldiers who were gathered around her, some looked worried, others confused.

Susie then brought the rifle into ready position, her bayonet blade up and aimed at Jane, but she remained where she was. Sweat could be seen forming on her brow, her breathing coming out in quick, panicked gasps. She then made a half-hearted lunge, but Jane swatted the blade away with little effort.

"Come on!, I said stab, not tickle!!" yelled Jane and Susie made another attempt, but Jane once again swatted her rifle away with no effort. "Come on girl!, you're the worst soldier I have ever seen in my entire life, now come at me!!"

Susie then made a full effort to hit Jane, but Jane skilfully side-stepped, grabbed the rifle with both hands and pulled it out of Susie's hands, then struck her hard in the stomach with the rifle butt, immediately turned the rifle around and struck Susie across the face with the wooden butt end of the rifle, sending the poor girl to the ground. She then stood over her, bayonet blade pointed at Susie's neck, directly over the jugular and glared down at her.

"You'll have to do better then that if you want to survive in battle." said Jane.

"Enough!!" said Alicia's voice, and Jane turned to see the red and white headscarf wearing girl running towards the two. She then knelt down beside Susie, who was holding her cheek in pain and sobbing loudly. "What in the world are you doing??"

"Teaching a lesson that must be tough." said Jane, tossing the rifle on the ground next to Susie. "She should either learn from it and toughen up, or quit being a soldier. Her life and the life of your squad mates may depend on it." and with that Jane dusted off her hands, turned and walked away.

"Now that's the kind of gal that makes a squad leader." complimented Wendy, snickering and grinning.

"Whoa…and I thought Drill Instructor Rodriguez was a tough man." said Cherry.

Vyse and Aika just looked at each other wide eyed, both too surprised and shocked to say anything.

Meanwhile, Catherine O'Hara, Elysse Moore and Homer Peron were all kneeling next to Susie Evans as she lay crying on the ground. Alicia held her hand and sat her up. "Don't worry Susie, I promise you that I will do my best to see that she is punished. This goes way beyond what is expected of an instructor." said Alicia.

But Susie shook her head, her sobbing stopped momentarily as well, "No…no s-she is right." sobbed Susie, she then lifted her head, her eyes red and puffy, a dark black bruise on her left cheek. "I have to become stronger if I am to make a good soldier, father would of wanted it this way as well…so let Jane be."

Alicia was surprised at her old friends seemingly renewed attitude, but smiled and nodded her head. "Alright, if that's what you want. I'll support it." said Alicia

Catherine and Elysse helped Susie stand up and supported her, one under each arm and walked her back to the squad barracks, the rest of the squad was following behind them.

Later into the evening, the entire squad was back in their barracks. The place was filled with talk and laughter as everyone went about their free time routines. Card games were going on, groups were talking, and everyone was having a good time.

Vyse and Aika were walking around the barracks together, seeing what was going on and how everyone was doing. Their first concern was checking up on Susie Evans, who was sitting on her bottom bunk, with Elysse and Dallas on either side of her. Elysse was holding an ice pack to Susie's cheek and Dallas was gladly holding onto Susie's hands, comforting her.

"Oh…look what that evil woman did to that pretty face of yours." said Dallas, patting Susie's hands with her own.

"oooouuuuccchhhh….this looks like it huuuuurrrrrttttssss sssssooooo bbbaaadddd…." said Elysse in her extremely slow, laid back manner of speaking as she removed the ice pack and looked at Susie's cheek.

"Don't worry guys, I can tough it out." said Susie, a small smile forming on her mouth.

"Hey Susie." said Vyse, giving a wave as they walked up to her.

"Sup!" said Aika, cheerfully

"Hello, Vyse, Aika." said Susie, giving a polite nod and smile.

"Are you alright?" asked Vyse, seeing Susie's dark bruise and gritting his teeth as if he could feel her pain.

"Yes, thank you for your concern." said Susie, smiling once again.

"That Jane Turner…she's something else…" said Aika, everyone nodded.

Vyse then looked towards the back of the barracks and he saw Nadine, sitting alone on her bunk. Recently she was doing better, but she still wasn't her very cheerful self. So they bid farewell to Susie and made their way over to Nadine's bunk.

"Hey…" said Vyse, giving a weak smile and Aika waved

Nadine looked up at Vyse and nodded, but didn't say anything. Vyse and Aika then sat on either side of Nadine.

"How are you doing?" asked Aika, placing her hand on Nadine's shoulder.

"Alright…better…" said Nadine

"Well, I'm glad to hear that." said Vyse, "It's been three weeks now and I still can't believe she's gone."

Aika gasped slightly, and reached around Nadine and smacked Vyse in the back of the head, "VYSE!!"

"No no…he's right, it has been three weeks." said Nadine, "Maybe it's time to start moving on….I suppose…"

"Excuse me…" said a soft, female voice and everyone looked towards the front of Nadine's bunk and saw Alicia standing there, hands behind her back. "Do you have a moment, Nadine??".

"Sergeant Malchiott!" said Aika and all three of them quickly stood up and saluted her, she smiled and saluted back.

"Please, call me Alicia and like Welkin said, don't worry about all of the formalities." said Alicia, lowering her hand.

"I just came by to say Thank you, thank you for helping Welkin." said Alicia to Nadine, "Being Darcsen like Isara, you helped him in a way that only you could when you let him hug you. It gave him one last good memory of how it felt to hug his younger sister", Nadine lowered her head and nodded. "I just hope that you do not feel uncomfortable around him now…"

Nadine shook her head, "Not at all, not if it helped our squad leader." said Nadine, "I'd do anything for Isara or any other of my squad mates if it helps them."

Alicia smiled and nodded, "Thank you, Thank you once again for helping Welkin…I'm sure Isara would appreciate it as well.", Alicia bowed and walked away.

"I'm sure that Isara is also happy you helped her older brother." said Aika, Vyse nodded in agreement.

"Thanks guys, you both helped me a great deal, I won't forget it." said Nadine, smiling brightly once again.

"H-hey, V-vyse." said a nervous sounding voice. Vyse turned to see Karl and Lynn standing side by side, Karl was holding one arm behind his back, looking very nervous and Lynn was holding onto Karl's other arm and smiling at both Aika and Vyse.

"What's up Karl?" asked Vyse, standing up and walking up to them, Nadine and Aika also stood up and watched on.

"G-got s-s-something here f-for ya." said Karl, and he brought his hidden arm forward, revealing a large, rectangular, felt box. He then passed it to Vyse

Vyse took it with both hands and looked down at it curiously, he then proceeded to slowly open it up.

Suddenly Aika gasped loudly, her eyes opening up, wide as saucers and she brought both of her hands up and cupped them over her mouth. Vyse's mouth dropped open, his eyes growing wide as well, "Oh…no way…"

Vyse then reached into the felt box and retrieved his signature black eye patch. But, the black frame that held the glass eye piece was fixed, the glass had been replaced and the strap had been resown and in better condition then it had been in years. It was like new, and this brought a tear to each corner of Vyse's eyes.

"Karl…wha…" said Vyse, looking up at Lynn and Karl.

Lynn chuckled happily, "We fixed it for you." said Lynn cheerfully, "We've seen you wear it since you arrived, we thought it best that we get it back to you as soon as we could."

Karl chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck, "S-sorry it took so long, I w-wanted to make sure that it was p-p-perfect before giving it back to you." added Karl, "I just hope it's as good as it once was."

Vyse looked down at the eye patch and shook his head, "No…." said Vyse

Aika and Nadine gasped, Lynn's mouth dropped open in surprise and Karl looked away in shame.

"It's PERFECT!!, Better then before!!" said Vyse, grinning and laughing loudly, "Come here you!!". And Vyse reached forward and wrapped his arms around Karl, giving him a powerful bear hug that nearly suffocated him. This caught the attention of a lot of the other squad mates in the barracks, seeing Vyse laughing loudly, swinging Karl around in a circle as he hugged him.

"C-c-c…" said Karl in short gasps.

"What was that??" asked Vyse, loosening his grip around Karl.

Karl managed to release two words, "Can't…breath…"

"Oops…sorry about that." laughed Vyse, letting go of Karl once again and standing next to Aika.

Aika smiled, took the eye patch from Vyse and walked till she was in front of him. She then slowly put the eye patch on for him and stepped back and Vyse was filled with a sense of fulfillment, as if he had gotten a part of himself back that he had lost when his eye patch was broken by Cezary.

He then looked at Karl and Lynn proudly, "Karl…Lynn, thank you both so much." said Vyse, "I thought that I had forever lost this to my own stupidity when it got broken during our fight with Cezary."

Lynn shook her head, "No, it is us who should be thanking you." said Lynn, "You have shown us Darcsen a kindness that we have not seen for a very long time. The least we could do is give you back your cherished eye patch."

Nadine walked past Vyse and stood next to Lynn, "You never once judged me based on my hair and eye color, and you've always defended me when no one else would. I'll never be able to thank you enough for that."

Aika was starting to get teary eyed just from listening to all of this, Vyse noticed and reached back and pulled her next to him, and with his other arm, he wrapped it around Nadine. Karl and Lynn knew what to do and everyone formed up in a big group hug.

A short while later, Vyse and Aika walked past a card game that was going on. They saw Catherine O'Hara, squad 7's most skilled card player, playing with afew others squad members. So, naturally curious, they stopped and watched. Catherine was looking at her cards with her bright blue eyes, her pile of money was the highest. She was then looking up at Edy Nelson, Homer Peron, Audrey Heitinga and Juno Coren. Each of then furrowed their eyebrows and growled slightly as they looked back at her.

Edy Nelson looked over at Homer ,"Homer…The last of our money rests on this hand. So if I lose, you had better win."

"You mean the last of my money…" said Homer softly, Edy slammed her palm against the table

"What was that??" she screamed.

"N-nothing Miss Edy" replied Homer, sitting up straight once again.

Juno smiled and laid her cards down, "Straight, anyone got anything better??" asked Juno, tilting her head and smiling.

Audrey sighed and placed her cards face down, "I'm out…again…" she sighed.

Edy looked down, her shoulders were moving up and down like she was crying, but slowly she raised her head and she could be seen laughing. "Hahaha!!, gotcha Juno!!" said Edy, laying her cards with a full house as her hand. "Who's the best, I am!!".

Meanwhile Catherine was sitting back in her chair, slowly rocking back and forth as she waited patiently for everyone else to finish.

"Then I'm sorry Miss Edy…sorry I have to do this to you." said Homer, laying his cards down and revealing four of a kind.

Edy's eyes grew wide, "H-homer…you…you beat me…" said Edy, slowly sinking back into her seat. "But that doesn't matter, with that hand there's no way Catherine can beat you."

Catherine sighed and held her hand to her head. "Oh dear me…what ever is a lady to do…" said Catherine, slowly shaking her hands back and forth. And she folded her cards back up into her hands and sighed.

"See, I knew it, you're the best homer!!" said Edy, she then reached towards Catherine's money pile, but Catherine placed her hand on top of Edy's hands, stopping her.

"Homer…I do apologize and hope that you won't hate me for this." said Catherine, she then placed her cards on the table. Revealing a royal flush, all hearts, she then winked and smiled a sly smile, then collected everyone else's money.

"Impossible…" said Edy, she then banged the table once again, "OH Homer!!, This anger…I'm gonna take it out on YOU!!" and with that Edy grabbed Homer by the front of his uniform and hauled him away.

"Yes Miss E- *SMACK*", Homer didn't have a chance to finish before Edy delivered a powerful punch across the cheek, sending him flying towards the back of the barracks.

Meanwhile Catherine was happily counting her winnings when she happened to notice Vyse and Aika nearby.

"Evening Chaps, care for a game of cards??" she asked.

"Umm…" said Vyse, in the background they could hear Edy giving Homer a beat down for losing.

"Oh don't worry, I'll go easy on you guys, I promise." said Catherine, who was now shuffling the deck of cards, giving an innocent smile.

Aika shrugged, "We have earned a lot of ducats during our time of service and not been off base much…" encouraged Aika, gesturing with her head towards the table.

Vyse looked over his shoulder and saw a crowd gathered around Edy Nelson as she slapped Homer around while holding onto him with her other hand. "How could you lose all our money to that woman!!"

"Uh…guess it couldn't hurt…at least not as much as it does for Homer, Aika's not as violent as Edy is." said Vyse.

"That depends on if we win or not." teased Aika, giving Vyse a shove towards the table.

Vyse and Aika then sat down with Catherine across from them and she began to deal cards out, humming a tune as she did. But suddenly the front door to the barracks opened up and they saw Welkin, Alicia, Largo, and Rosie entering the barracks. And immediately everyone stood up and came to attention.

"Sorry to barge in so suddenly, but we've got new orders…" said Welkin.

"Sir, yes sir!!" said everyone in unison.

"Our target…Bruhl…" said Alicia.

Everyone gasped, Bruhl wasn't a target of any real importance, military wise.

"Captain Varrot assigned this mission to use specifically." said Welkin, "It…it's mine and Isara's home town.", now everything made sense. "I know it may not be of any real value in this war, but, it would mean a lot to me and the other Bruhl residence in squad 7."

There were no objections from anyone in the squad barracks.

"Then let's go boss, let's go to Bruhl and get Isara's home back!!" said Aika, balling up her fist in determination.

"Let's kick those imps outta there!!" said Vyse.

"For Isara!" said Nadine, Lynn Karl and Wavy all nodded.

"Guys…thank you…" said Welkin, "Also, let me introduce you to your newest squad member." and Welkin side stepped and revealed Kreis, the engineer from the R&D department, looking very nervous.

But Kreis managed to stand up straight and give a proper salute with good posture. "Good evening guys…the names Kreis, I'll be the Edelweiss's new operator…I know I will never be as good as she was, but I will do my best." said Kreis.

Everyone clapped and some whistled, welcoming Kreis to squad 7.

Welkin then looked to Catherine and waved her over, curious, Catherine made her way over to him. While Alicia went and retrieved Marina, Squad 7's other sniper. Vyse and Aika waited patiently at the card table, but watched as some sort of discussion went on between them.

Catherine's expressions went from one of surprise, then concern, and finally to what looked like dread, Marina's expression remained unchanged throughout the discussion. The two girls then saluted Welkin and departed, Catherine looked lost in thought as she walked back to the card table.

"You alright, you look like you've seen a ghost…." said Vyse.

This caused Catherine to look up at Vyse with what looked like shock, then slight anger, "How could you say that!!" she cried, quickly gathering up her money and departing from the table, but she did not return to her bunk, rather she left the barracks completely.

Aika's expression became angry and she smacked Vyse in the side of the head with her open palm, "Vyse, how could you!!" said Aika in an angry tone.

Vyse shook his head, "What…I was just joking…"

"Well, don't" said a stern, cold voice and they saw Marina Wulfstan approaching them, "I saw what happened and thought you should know. We just learned that the Imperial unit known as the Oka Nieba will be present in Bruhl. They are…sniper killers…"

"Catherine has encountered this group before and has lost many of her fellow sniper comrades in the 1st Europan war. They are the most dangerous type of enemy for our type of unit, snipers. As they only go after other snipers, they'll ignore any other target until they're considered a threat…understand. Even if the Princess herself were on the battlefield, they wouldn't go after her.

So for Catherine and I, this mission is going to be extra dangerous. "

Aika and Vyse nodded, Vyse felt extremely bad now.

A short while later, Vyse left the barracks and proceed in trying to find Catherine O'Hara. After some asking around he found her in the R&D department. She was retrieving for sniper rifle, which in in a black case. It had been sent in for some maintenance, as she didn't spend as much time as Marina in self-maintenance.

Vyse gulped and approached her, "Hello, Miss O'Hara." said Vyse, Catherine turned and saw Vyse and gave a slight smile.

"Well, now that certainly is a proper and gentlemanly greeting." said Catherine, "But I'm a little busy at the moment. So if you'll excuse me", and she walked past Vyse, case in her right hand and moved towards the exit.

"Marina told me about…what Welkin said to you." said Vyse.

Catherine stopped walking, "I see…so the young lady told you about my past?"

"Well…not in great detail, but she did say that you encountered the Oka Nieba during the last war. And that they're an anti sniper unit."

Catherine gestured for Vyse to follow her and together they walked in the dark, clear night, back towards the barracks. "Figures they would be sent to a place like Bruhl, with all of those tall buildings, excellent places for snipers. To be honest, I'm surprised it's been this long into the war before we encountered them." said Catherine

"Well, I just wanted to apologize for my earlier remark." said Vyse.

"And I apologize for my outburst." said Catherine, "I forget how young the rest of you all are, compared to this old lady. Most of you weren't even out of grade school before I was fighting for Gallia in the 1st Europan war."

"If you don't mind me saying, you look extremely beautiful for your age." said Vyse, grinning sheepishly.

"Haha, thanks dear, Like a fine wine, I'm aging gracefully." said Catherine, patting Vyse on the shoulder.

"Yep, getting better with age." said Vyse

"I meant more wise and insightful." said Catherine.

Vyse and Catherine then stopped in front of the main barracks doors, "I have a proposal, If our leader will let me, I'll volunteer to accompany you during the Bruhl mission, I'll protect you from the Oka Nieba unit during battle."

"Thanks lad, but I'll be fine, I've encountered them before and survived, I will do so tomorrow." replied Catherine, she then stretched her arms out to her side, forming a bicep pose with her left arm and patting her bicep muscle with her right hand.. "I may have gotten a little older, but this body of mine is still useful. And I'm still as good of a shot as I once was. Thanks for the concern though, it warms this old heart of mine"

"I see, well all the same, good luck tomorrow…" said Vyse, he then extended his hand out and Catherine smiled and shook his hand.

"Good luck to you to, Vyse Inglebard." said Catherine.


	37. Chapter 37

**Chapter 37- Undying Hate**

The first few rays of dawn were beginning to rise over the eastern horizon, the sky a beautiful pink, orange and red color, a few clouds scattered along the horizon as well. But despite all of this beauty going on, what was going on within Catherine O'Hara's mind as she dreamt was terrible, a nightmare that she used to have frequently. Now brought on about the news Welkin Gunther delivered about a certain enemy unit they would face in battle soon. The Oka Nieba, what made it so terrible was because it was an event that forever changed Catherine O'Hara's life.

_Catherine had a flashback to a memory of herself many many years ago in her dream, she and a young promising recruit were training together on a sniper's training field. Catherine watched through a pair of binoculars as her promising new student nailed yet another perfect bulls-eye from 100 yards away._

_"Excellent work, Ellen." complimented Catherine, smiling down at her student who was laying in a prone position, pulling the bolt to her sniper rifle back and ejecting the spent cartridge._

_"Thank you Miss O'Hara, you've taught me so much." said Ellen, sliding the bolt forward again. She was a young, pretty girl, with short jet black hair and emerald green eyes, a common trait among Imperial born people._

_Catherine had personally chosen Ellen, her new student for two reasons. One was that she was an excellent shot for someone so young, and this filled her with so much potential. The other was that she was Imperial born, but had been risen in Gallia as early as three years of age when her parents moved to the more peaceful land of Gallia to raise their baby girl._

_This being so, her enlistment into the Militia was tough. Being of Imperial birth and the fact that Gallia was now at war with the Empire, she was viewed on as a being possible threat, a spy perhaps._

_Catherine, however did not see her as such, not when she was far too young to even remember the first few years of her life in the Empire. And not when she had such a strong will to defend her home, Gallia. Ellen knew which she'd call home, which country she'd fight to defend and which people she'd fight to protect._

_That however changed, a few months into the war, with the Empire getting deeper and deeper into Gallian territory, a law was passed, which stated that for security reasons, all Gallian citizens of Imperial birth would be sent to internment camps. This law also banned all militia soldiers of Imperial birth from active service. Sadly, this included Ellen, Catherine's friend and student._

_Back at the main Militia base, Ellen was being lead towards a military Jeep by a group of armed soldiers and military police. she was dressed in civilian clothes, and had a duffle bag over her right shoulder, the feeling of betrayal she had within her was beyond words. Her head was down in sadness as she was being escorted off base towards a military jeep by Gallian soldiers, but behind her she heard a voice._

_"Stop!!, what are you doing to her!!" cried Catherine's voice as she pushed her way past two military police officers, a third tripped her and she fell flat to the ground and was immediately pinned by two other officers. More officers drew their pistols and raised their sub-machine guns and aimed them down at Catherine and towards Ellen as she tried to run to Catherine._

_"Why are you taking Ellen away, she didn't do anything." cried Catherine as she continued to struggle to break free._

_"Simple orders, she is of Imperial birth and must be taken away." said one of the officers, holding Catherine's head to the ground._

_Ellen looked around at the officers pointing their guns at her, the same as if she were an enemy combatant and not a Gallian Militia soldier, she then looked down at Catherine with teary eyes, "Catherine…why…why are they doing this to me." said Ellen sadly, "I've only ever loved Gallia, fought for Gallia, I forsake my Imperial birth…yet they treat me like this."_

_Catherine struggle for a moment more, then stopped, "I won't struggle anymore…if any of you have a heart, then please… let me say good-bye to my student." pleaded Catherine. All the officers looked at each other and nodded and raised their guns up and away from Ellen and Catherine. They then let Catherine stand up and she straightened her blue, red and white uniform and walked up to Ellen, who was looking down at the ground, tears flowing down her small cheeks. Catherine's heart was breaking, but she managed to hold them back. She then reached forward with her right hand and placed it under Ellen's chin, and slowly she raised her head up until she was looking into Ellen's emerald green, tear filled eyes with her own bright blue eyes._

_"Catherine…tell me why…" said Ellen in between sobs._

_"I don't know dear…It's all wrong…" said Catherine, two tear drops finally falling from her eyes. She blink hard and held her eyes closed, trying to keep more from coming out. She then pulled Ellen close and hugged her long and hard, Ellen returned the hug as she cried against her shoulder. "Ellen I… I'm so sorry…" said Catherine._

_The two girls then heard a gun cock back, "Alright, time's up." said one of the officers._

_Catherine sighed sadly and let go of Ellen, she then quickly reached up and began to undo a chain around her neck, revealing a G shaped pendant with a red, blue and white metal background, G for Gallia, the colors for their countries national colors. She then placed it into Ellen's hands and closed them around her pendant._

_"Sweetie, whatever happens, please don't give up on Gallia…don't give up on being a militia soldier, I know we'll find a way to change this and get you back, I won't rest until I do. I give you my word!" promised Catherine as she held onto Ellen's hands, even as she was being dragged away._

_"I know you will Catherine, and I know that you and I will fight together again someday." called out Ellen as she was lead further and further away from Catherine by the military police._

_"Yes we will, we'll fight together again, I promise!!" yelled back Catherine as she watched Ellen being put into the jeep, once the door was closed, Ellen moved up to the window and placed her right hand against the glass, the pendant was in the palm of her hand, against the glass as well. The jeep then shifted into drive and began to drive away loudly, Catherine watched in great sadness as her student and Best friend was taken away from her._

And as Catherine moaned and rolled around in her bunk, tossing and turning as her nightmare went on she remembered a few more months into the war.

_Catherine was inside the loft of a warehouse, it was raining outside, thunder was clapping, lightning was flashing outside, but it was hard to tell which was which. Because at the same time tanks on the ground below were firing off shells loudly, explosions were going off left and right, giving off bright white and red flashes everywhere. Despite all of this, Catherine remained focused on her task, down below her, her squad was advancing forward in the streets below in urban combat. Her commanders tank was driving down the road, soldiers were moving forward from cover to cover behind rocks, destroyed cars, in the doorways of blown apart buildings and behind the commanders tank. All were firing forward at Imperial soldiers behind sandbags, up in guard towers and inside of pillboxes, they were defending a command post which was located in a school building a few blocks ahead of Catherine's position._

_Catherine was looking through her scope, searching for important targets, such as those of Imperial officers, machine gunners, and other snipers that were the biggest threats to her squad that was moving forward._

_"Catherine, second floor, third window from the right, enemy sniper." said a male voice._

_Catherine quickly moved to the said position and immediately spotted an enemy sniper taking aim at her squad mates below. She moved her crosshairs over him and fired off a shot, the Imperial she hit fell forward, over the railing he was against and drop to the ground below._

_"Excellent shot, dead center." said Catherine's spotter, patting Catherine on the shoulder._

_"Thanks Lance." said Catherine, she pulled her sniper rifle bolt back and loaded another round into her chamber._

_Another loud clap of thunder went off, but for some reason, Catherine could of sworn she heard something else. Something closer, so she looked over her shoulder, but saw nothing but wooden boxes, hay, blankets and the small lamp they had close by. She shook that thought away and looked for more targets, Lance her spotter and close friend searching for more as well._

_"Machine gunner, straight ahead, pinning down our squad mates." said Lance, seeing two Imperials, a gunner and a belt feeder shooting at a large group of shock troopers hiding behind a large pile of rock and rubble._

_"Piece of cake." said Catherine, she put her cross-hairs over the gunner and fired, quickly reloading. "I'm not done yet!", she then took out the belt feeder a second later._

_"NOW!!" said a voice behind them, and from behind the boxes and also leaping down from the rafters in the rooftop came three figures, dressed in black from head to toe, all three drew swords from sheaths attached to their waist. Two of the black figures quickly rushed and tackled Lance from behind, the other charged at Catherine. Catherine quickly turned and raised her rifle up, sideways and blocked an incoming sword, swung by the assailant. She pushed the sword away, and hit her assailant across the face with the butt of her rifle and followed it up with a hard kick that sent her attacker backwards, crashing through one of the boxes. The attacker let out a loud feminine sounding grunt as she broke through the box._

_Catherine then looked over at Lance, he was defending himself against the two attackers, but as he tried to duck under a sword swing from one of the attackers, the other attacker behind him sliced her blade across Lances hamstring. He cried out in pain and dropped to the ground, the two attackers then held him down._

_"No!!" cried Catherine, raising her rifle to her shoulder and taking aim at one of the attackers. She then quickly pulled the trigger, but her gun let out a 'click' sound, empty. "No…" thought Catherine, she quickly pulled her bolt back and slide it forward again, but no cartridge came out. She had run out of ammo and didn't realize it._

_Just then Catherine heard a loud, angry scream coming from above, as yet another attacker dressed all in black came jumping down from the rafters, face covered with a black mask. This person then crashed down on top of Catherine, pinning her to the ground. A small blade was then draw from her attacker and held against Catherine's throat._

_Catherine sighed in defeat and closed her eyes, "Just…make it quick…" pleaded Catherine._

_But much to her surprise, a female began to giggle over and over again, followed by, "I win again Catherine O'Hara, you never were good at close quarters battles. You also never remember to keep track of your bullets." said a familiar voice. This made Catherine's heart come to a grinding halt and she quickly opened her eyes. Her attacker was still on top of her, mask still on her face, but… through the slit between the mouth and head was a pair of emerald, green eyes._

_"E-Ellen??" asked Catherine, her heart was now beating at a million miles an hour._

_Her attacker nodded, reached up and quickly removed her facemask and it was indeed Ellen, her black haired, emerald green eyed best friend and former student, looking down at her._

_"Ellen…wha…" stammered Catherine, too surprised and shocked to say anything._

_"Wow…who'd of thought that we'd meet up like this huh??" said Ellen, moving back and sitting on top of Catherine's chest, her wrists pinned by Ellen's knees as she remained sitting on top of Catherine._

_"Ellen…" said Catherine once again, but she was still too shocked and surprised to say anything else._

_"You lied to me." said Ellen coldly, "You promised that you would come find me."_

_"Sweetie…I tried, I tried very very hard, but they wouldn't tell me anything. Not where you went, not where you were taken, nothing." replied Catherine. She could now see, on Ellen's right arm, a red armband, with the Imperial crest on it._

_"She did, from the moment you were taken, Catherine searched everywhere for you. She rarely slept, rarely ate and worked herself to pure exhaustion looking everyday." added Lance, who was now being held prisoner by the two other, now obviously female masked soldiers._

_"Is he still here??" asked Ellen, looking up at Lance angrily. She then looked up at the two other Soldiers and preformed a kill him gesture by sliding her thumb across her throat with her right hand._

_Catherine looked up, which from her position, allowed her to see Lance behind her, but upside down. "Ellen, no STOP!!" cried Catherine, but too late as one of the female soldiers quickly ran her blade across Lance's throat, a fountain of blood came pouring out as he gurgled blood for a moment, then closed his eye's and slumped forward, dead before he even his the ground, blood starting to pool around his body._

_Catherine closed her eyes and screamed in rage and anguish._

_"How does it feel??" asked Ellen, "To helplessly watch as someone you love is killed before your very eyes??"_

_"ELLEN!!" screamed Catherine, glaring daggers at Ellen, still sitting on top of her, "why are you doing this??, why have you become like this??"_

_Ellen glared back at Catherine just as strongly, "Losing my Imperial friends and family isn't reason enough?!?" growled Ellen, some spit and saliva coming out of her mouth and hitting Catherine in the face._

_Catherine's anger disappeared for a moment, replaced by shock, "Wha…Ellen, tell me… Wha-what happened to your family??"_

_Ellen rolled her eyes and scoffed, "Tsk…you don't know anything do you??" she asked, her eyebrows furrowing in anger, her eyes burning with anger "Typical of someone from Gallia!!"_

_Catherine gasped, "What do you mean, your from Gallia, you are Gallian…" said Catherine_

_"No, I had the honour of being of Imperial birth, I was too young to realize what I had given up when my parents moved here. Nor was I given the option of staying, I went with them and it cost me everything." said Ellen._

_Catherine could not believe what she was hearing, this coming from her former student, who gladly signed up to fight for Gallia and defend her home and friends from the Empire without any sort of delay._

_Ellen then sighed, her anger level dropping, "Catherine... for the fond memories of us I have, I'll give you this one chance." said Ellen, "I want you to leave the military, otherwise… I'll kill you" said Ellen, rather calmly._

_Catherine's eyes opened wide in surprise, then sadness. "Ellen, tell me, why…why have you joined the Imperial forces??" asked Catherine._

_Ellen sighed once again, long and loud, "You really have no idea do you??" asked Ellen, Catherine shook her head. "The camp my parents were sent to, it was a death camp. They rounded up any Imperials who participated in Imperial rallies. Turns out they found my parents names on that list of participants from our hometown. Truth be told, they never attended any rally in person, rather signed their names for much needed food and other provisions which weren't being given out by Gallia, because they were Imperial born…so in exchange for signing a clipboard. They were giving food and everything they needed by Imperial merchants._

_For that simple act, they were executed, without pity or mercy by Gallian forces. And I was left to rot in a Gallian interment camp, all the while thinking 'Catherine will get me out of here, Catherine will get me out of here.' over and over again." explained Ellen_

_"Ellen…I had no idea." replied Catherine, shocked and appalled by what she heard._

_"Of course you didn't" said Ellen, "You have this image in your head that your Gallia is beautiful, peaceful, could never do any wrong, while we Imperials are blood thirsty monsters out to kill Gallians." said Ellen, glaring down at Catherine._

_"Sweetie…I'm so sorry about your parents and what happened to you…" said Catherine, lost for any other words._

_"I waited…waited so long for you." said Ellen angrily, "But another group of Imperial born Gallian militia soldiers like myself turned out to be the one's to help me escape from that camp. Together we hatched a plan and broke free from that place, but not without great sacrifice… a lot of good people died to help the few of us escape. My company here are among the few of those who did escape.", Ellen was gesturing to the few other masked soldiers with her._

_"Ellen I-" started Catherine_

_"Enough, as much as I hate you for abandoning me, I still remember you once believe in me when no one else would and treated me so kindly..." said Ellen, closing her eyes and smiling slightly as she remembered the once good times she had with Catherine, but her expressions quickly changed to anger again "So that earns you this one chance, leave the military now and never come back. Otherwise, you'll regret it and you'll be hunted by us…and I'll know if you've left or not, because I created this group that hunts only snipers...The Oka Nieba."_

_Ellen then sheathed her small sword and got off of Catherine, her comrades putting their swords and daggers away as well. All 4 of them proceeded to the large, square window nearby. The other three masked female soldiers climbed the window sill and leaped down in an acrobatic flip one after the other out the window to the nearby rooftop of the next building below. Ellen was the last one still standing on the sill, she sighed once moe and turned and faced Cathrine, who was slowly crawling towards Lance on her stomach._

_"Remember what I said Catherine, so long ago." asked Ellen, "I said that 'I know that you and I will fight together again some day', well it looks like it was true... in a way…not the way I had hoped."_

_Catherine reached Lance and slowly placed her hand on top his head, running hear hand down the back of his hair as tears streamed down her face as she mourned the loss of her friend she was unable to save, due to running out of ammo. She then looked at Ellen with such sad eyes, "Ellen, don't do this, you're my friend…"_

_"Enough!!, Leave the military, otherwise the next time we meet I won't hold back!!" warned Ellen before she leapt out the window and disappeared from sight._

_"ELLEN!!" cried Catherine, hand stretched out towards the window sill where Ellen once was._

* * *

Catherine was then being shook awoke by a few concerned female soldiers from squad 7, who included, Aika Thompson, Juno Coren, Dallas Wyatt and Audrey Heitinga.

"Miss O'Hara!, are you alright!" asked Dallas, a concerned look on her face.

"Yeah, we all heard you, you sounded like you were in some sort of distress…" said Juno, worried as well.

Catherine finally sat up in her own bed, her face covered in cold sweat, her skin cold and clammy as well. And without saying a word, she got up and moved past everyone and rushed to the bathroom. Once she was there she went to one of the nearby sinks and splashed some cold water on her face, running some cold water through her hair with her hands as well.

She then looked at her reflection and was breathing in and out slowly, trying to calm herself after remembering those terrible past events.

"Is she still in that unit…am I going to have to fight my old friend tomorrow again??" thought Catherine, looking at her reflection the entire time, which seemed to suddenly change into Ellen's, complete with black hair, green emerald eyes before she blinked that reflection away and hung her head low, releasing a long, sad sigh.

* * *

**_Hmmm...Is this too dark??, Perhaps Cliche??, or do I dare say...CHEESY!!, hey, alittle cheese never hurt anyone...unless your lactose intolerant. I'm kind of so-so on this one...what do ya think readers??. oh and "italics" cap is usually used in dream, flashback, memory so thought I'd use that to help._**


	38. Chapter 38

**_Warning: extreme content, you have been warned...oh my god...maybe this is a mistake to publish this, it's quite possible the darkest, grimest stuff I've ever written...I might even take it down...depending on what ya think...ok, you may read now...I am so disturbed..._**

**Chapter 38- Promises kept and broken**

It was nearing 7 A.M., and everyone was still asleep inside of the barracks. Everyone except Catherine O'Hara, unable to go back to sleep after her nightmare, she decided to make the best of the time she was giving to make preparations. She was up, already in full uniform and quietly sitting at a nearby table, doing some last minute cleaning of her sniper rifle and carefully loading ammo clips and putting them into her ammo belt across her chest and in pouches on her belt. And as she was finishing up, she looked down at her watch and smiled as the second hand was nearing the 12 number on her wrist watch.

"3...2...1" said Catherine softly and sure enough, once she reached one an alarm began to ring loudly over and over again, rudely awakening the rest of the squad as they sat up in their bunks, climbed out and began to run around and prepare to move out.

"Morning Dearies, hope you all slept well." said Catherine, putting her Sniper rifle over her shoulder and heading out of the barracks to wait outside for the rest of the squad.

A short while later the entire squad was up, in full uniform, guns, armoured plates and all and were neatly formed up in organized ranks. With scouts being in the front rank, shock troopers being in the 2nd rank, lancers in the 3rd and finally snipers and engineers in the 4th and last rank. All were holding their guns up and standing at attention, a look of seriousness and determination on their faces as Welkin, Alicia, Largo and Rosie approached the formed up squad.

"Alright, today's the day we take back Bruhl!!" announced Welkin, "We're taking back our hometown from the Imperials station there, is that understood??"

"Sir, yes sir!!" shouted everyone in unison.

"Alright, Squad 7 prepare to move out!!"

And with that, the entire squad moved to a large convoy of awaiting troop transport trucks on the nearby road leading out of the militia base. Once everyone was inside the trucks and the Edelweiss took the lead and Zaka's tank moved to the rear, the entire convoy began to move out, driving down the middle of the road and heading towards Bruhl, the drive would be a long one.

A few hours into the drive, Vyse, who was sitting next to Catherine O'Hara inside the truck as it rumbled along the road towards Bruhl, heard her moaning softly. He looked over and saw that she had her sniper rifle in both hands, held against her shoulder and her head was down. It seems that she had gone back to sleep during the drive to Bruhl.

But what concerned Vyse was that in the corner of her left eye, he could see a sparkle. He looked closer and saw that it was a tear drop. "Mmm… Lance… Ellen…" said Catherine softly, her lips quivering slightly, her eyelids moving around.

Concerned, Vyse reached out and slowly touched the corner of her eye, catching her tear drop just as it fell. This however, awoke Catherine and she slowly raised her head and looked over at Vyse.

"What's wrong lad??" asked Catherine, sitting up more properly as the truck bounced around abit.

"Oh uh…nothing, just worried is all" said Vyse, "You seemed like you were so sad just now, and you had some tears in your eyes as you slept."

"Sorry to worry you Lad, just memories of a time so long ago. Sad memories…." said Catherine, wiping away the other tears in her eyes. "But you don't need to worry about me, remember, I'm a war veteran. I may be sad now, but when the time comes to fight, I'm able to focus on the task at hand and not let my emotions get in the way of my duty."

"Right, we'll sorry for disturbing your sleep" said Vyse.

"No, it's good that you woke me up, we should be arriving at Bruhl sometime soon." said Catherine.

A short while later, the entire convoy came to a halt. And the soldiers of squad 7 all climbed out of the trucks they were in and ran to the front of the convoy and looked out at the small town of Bruhl that lay ahead. Already on the scene was the rest of the Militia regiment sent in early, they had successfully created a perimeter around the entire city and were waiting for the elite squad 7 to head in and secure the town.

The squad took a few moments to go over all of their equipment and make sure they had everything they needed. Aika Thompson was loading fresh clip into her rifle and checking to make sure she had all of her equipment on her belt as she patted each pouch with her hands.

"Spare ammo…check, binoculars…check, protective charm…double check…" said Aika as she patted each pouch.

But as she was going through this routine she happened to look over at Catherine O'Hara, who was kneeling down, giving a hug to Aisha Neumann, the youngest shock trooper in the squad.

"What's wrong Aunty Cathy??" asked Aisha as she hugged Catherine.

Catherine just chuckled slightly and petted the back of Aisha's head. "Oh sweetie, you have no idea how happy it makes me when you call me that. And nothing's the matter sweetie, just been a while since I let you know how much I care for you… If I ever had a daughter, I'd want her to be as kind, sweet and adorable as you." said Catherine.

"I… I feel the same way Aunty Cathy, I'm so glad to of met you." replied Aisha, standing on her tip toes to reached Catherine's height as she hugged Catherine.

Catherine then released Aisha, looked at her with proud eyes and ruffled the top of her head with her right hand. "Good luck kiddo, stay safe." said Catherine, she then got up and began to walk towards Aika Thompson, who was still looking at Catherine. Aika then noticed Catherine lower her head and sigh.

"Something wrong Catherine??" asked Aika, and Catherine looked back towards Aika.

"Oh, hello Aika." said Catherine, Catherine's expression then changed to one of sadness once again.

"Catherine…" said Aika, now very worried.

"Aika… will you do something… important for me." asked Catherine.

Aika was still worried but nodded her head, "Sure… anything" replied Aika.

Catherine then took Aika by the hand and lead her to the back of one of the troop transports, out of sight from the rest of the squad.

"Look Aika, I have something here." said Catherine, reaching into her breast pocket and digging around for a moment, she then retrieved a golden locket and chain, held it in her hand and looked down at it, then up at Aika. "Aika… if I should fall in battle today, I want you to give this to Aisha Neumann for me."

"What??" asked Aika, now extremely worried at Catherine's seemingly hopeless attitude towards surviving the upcoming battle. She raised a trembling hand to her mouth, gasping in surprise and fear at Catherine's request.

"Aika dear please, this is very important. This has been in my family for generations, passed on from Mother to Daughter, Mother to Daughter. I never had the honour or privilege of getting married and having children of my own… but if I ever had a daughter or someone I cared for just as greatly, I'd want it to be someone like Aisha. There's no one I can think of passing in onto more then her."

Aika's heart was thumping in her chest as she listened, but she managed to nod her head and hold out her hand. Catherine smiled and placed the locket into Aika's hand and closed it around her locket, holding onto Aika's hand with both her hands.

"Aika dear… thank you so much for doing this for me" said Catherine, smiling brightly and looking at Aika with her two bright blue eyes.

Aika nodded again, "Catherine… why are you doing this??" asked Aika

Catherine sighed and lowered her head for a moment, "Like I said, I am a war veteran… and today, I have a score to settle with the Oka Nieba. I've encountered them before and looks like today is the day we meet once more." replied Catherine, "But just in case, I cannot defeat them… remember what I told you to do."

Aika nodded once more and put the locket into her front pocket, "Yes Ma'am, I promise I'll see to it. You have my word." said Aika, putting on a brave face.

"Thank you deary, I knew I could count on you." said Catherine, she then smiled, turned and began to walk away. Aika waited until she was around the other side of the truck before she let two tears fall from her eyes and fell against the truck beside her. She brought her hand up to her mouth to muffle her sobs as she began to cry over Catherine's sad request.

A short while later, Aika had dried her tears and walked back to the front of the transport truck. She was looking down at the ground, avoiding eye contact with any of Squad 7's other soldiers. But a familiar voice began to call her name.

"Yo Aika, Aika Babe!!" said Vyse's voice, she looked up for a moment and saw Vyse jogging towards her.

Aika cringed, "Oh no… not him, I don't want him to see me like this…" thought Aika, turning her head away from Vyse as he approached her. Vyse noticed right away.

"Hey Babe… what's the matter" a look of concern on his face.

Aika's entire body began to tremble, She then ran forward and wrapped her arms around Vyse and began to hug him. She started crying once again as she buried her face in Vyse's chest.

"Aika… what's the matter??" asked Vyse, looking down at Aika as cried against her chest and held him tight.

"Just…hold me Vyse…please" pleaded Aika, still crying. She couldn't bring herself to mention Catherine's request she promised to do.

Vyse nodded and brought his arms up and held onto Aika, letting her cry against him as he held her comfortingly. He didn't say or do anything else, just let her cry against him like she asked.

However, he soon felt someone tugging on the back of his jacket. He turned and saw Aisha Neumann tugging on his jacket and looking up at him. "Mr. Inglebard, Mr. Inglebard!!" said Aisha over and over again.

Aika heard Aisha's voice and quickly wiped away her tears and tried her best to act normal. She then let go of Vyse and he was able to turn and looked down at her once more.

"Yes Aisha, something I can help you with??" asked Vyse, smiling down at Aisha.

Aisha then grabbed Vyse by the hand and pulled him down, so that now he was kneeling and eye level with her. "I have something to ask you." said Aisha, tapping the tips of her fingers together nervously.

"Sure, what is it??" asked Vyse

"I…I am worried about Aunty Cathy, she's acting very strange today." said Aisha.

"Aunty Cathy??" asked Vyse, unsure about who she was talking about.

"Yes Aunty Cathy, uh…Catherine O'Hara I guess you would know her by." replied Aisha, fidgeting even more now.

"Oh I see… yeah, I know what you mean, she did seem to be acting a lot more differently than she usually does." said Vyse.

"Mr. Inglebard, I was wondering, would you be able to watch over her for me??" asked Aisha

"Watch over her??" asked Vyse.

"Yes, protect her, make sure she stays safe today." added Aisha

"Alright, I'll see what I can do." said Vyse, grinning

Aisha shook her head, "Not good enough, Welkin said the same thing, but he's gonna be in his tank all during the battle. So I want a promise; promise me that you'll look after Aunty Cathy, promise me that you'll keep her safe for me."

Vyse gulped for a moment, before Aika interrupted. "Aisha… why are you asking this of Vyse, there's no way he can watch over her all during the battle. It really isn't fair for him to have to make such a promise..."

"B-but, Mr. Inglebard was the one who saved the princess during the dock rescue, he's the one who went looking for you all by himself at Kloden, he's the one who helped stop that massive tank at Barious and saved Nadine's life… If he can do all that, I know he can keep Aunty Cathy safe." said Aisha.

Vyse's confidence had finally come back after hearing Aisha say all of that, he then reach forward and grabbed Aisha by the hands and looked deep into her eyes and smile. "Aisha… I promise you; I will keep Catherine O'Hara safe for you today, I promise that no harm will come to her." said Vyse with absolute confidence and meaning every single word he spoke.

Aisha smiled brightly, and wrapped her arms around Vyse's neck in a powerful hug, "Oh thank you so much Mr. Inglebard, I believe you when you say you'll do it… thank you!!" cried Aisha, she then quickly turned and skipped away, all her fears gone.

"Vyse… that's a dangerous promise to make…" said Aika, hand against her pocket, touching the locket Catherine O'Hara had given her.

"When I say I'm gonna do something, I do it." said Vyse, grinning and giving a thumbs up to act with complete confidence.

Aika smiled again for the first time in a long time, "Yeah… I know you do, and I know that you always keep your promises."

A short while later, the entire squad was formed up behind both Welkin and Zaka's tanks, ready to move into the city. Catherine O'Hara and Marina Wulfstan were sitting on top of the Edelweiss, just behind the tank turret, they would ride on top of the Edelweiss as it drove into the city and each would hop off at a given location, most likely in a tall building, factory or tower to give sniper support for the squad.

Welkin was looking through his binoculars, down Bruhl road, the main street of the town. Far down the road he saw anti-tank turrets, and dozens and dozens of soldiers exiting buildings and getting behind sandbags, behind machine gun emplacements or behind solid cover, waiting for the Militia soldiers to come at them.

"Looks like there's going to be a lot of resistance…sure to be snipers all over the plaza as well…this won't be easy." thought Welkin, but he looked back at his soldiers with confidence in his eyes. "Alright everyone, let's take back Bruhl, let's take back Isara's home!. Squad 7 MOVE OUT!!" and Welkin waved his arm forward swiftly.

Welkin's tank then began to charge forward, Zaka's tank moving along side as well, Catherine and Marina remained low, behind the turret for cover. A short distance later the tank came to a screeching halt and Marina Wulfstan quickly got up and jumped down from the tank that had stopped next to a three story house, a perfect location to place a sniper.

"Good luck Marina!!" called out Catherine as she remained crouch behind the turret, bullets striking and pinging loudly against the tanks armour. Marina stopped in the doorway of the house and gave a thumbs up before disappearing inside.

Meanwhile the shock troopers of squad 7 were moving along side the Edelweiss, running to cover wherever they could find it, such as behind rocks and rubble, behind the Edelweiss or Shamrock or behind abandoned sandbags, all while moving and firing forward at the Imperials ahead of them.

Aika Thompson, who was a short distance ahead, with the rest of the scouts noticed land mines planted on the road ahead, she reached down to her radio and raised it to her mouth, "Yo Boss, you might not wanna come up here yet, we got land mines all over the place. Send the engineers first…" but a loud rumbling caused Aika to raise her head and look up, she then spotted a tank crashing through a ruined store front, now in full view. "And better send a lancer or two cuz we got tanks!!" added Aika, ducking behind her solid cover.

"Copy that." said Welkin, "I need two engineers and two lancers to advance forward and take out the tanks and landmines up ahead. Shock troopers, provide cover for them"

"R-right, I'm on it." said Karl's voice through the radio.

"Leave it to me!" replied Nadine a moment later.

"Hang on Sweetie, I'm a coming to blow that nasty tank up for ya!!" said Jann Walker's voice

"Not if I get there first!!" added Rosina

And the said Unit moved forward while the Edelweiss and Shamrock remained where they were, firing shell at distant targets.

At the back of the Edelweiss, Catherine O'Hara was looking up at the tall buildings, trying to find a suitable location to set up at. She spotted a 2 story factory with a lot of windows on the top floor, a perfect place to set up at.

"Alright Welkin, I'm getting off here, give me some cover." said Catherine, and she got low and ready to dash across the street, down the alley and up and into the factory.

"Alright…GO!!" said Welkin, firing his tanks machine gun turret, spraying bullets towards Imperials in front of him, suppressing them. And Catherine immediately jumped down from the tank, staying low as she ran across the street, tracer bullets from a machine gun position firing just over her head and behind her as she moved. She got low behind some sandbags, waiting for a lull in the firing. Soon enough it came and she ran as fast as she could and entered the doorway to the factory, taking out her sidearm pistol and aiming it in front of her, making sure it was clear as she moved nice and slow up the stair case to the next floor.

She did this until she was up at the top floor, the entire place was clear of enemies, so she put her pistol away. She than took her rifle off her shoulder where hung by it's strap and ran to one of the nearby windows, pushing them open and sticking her rifle barrel out the window, looking down at the streets below through her scope. She quickly got her bearings of where her squad was and where the enemy was.

Catherine then began to pick off targets, making it easier for her squad to move forward. But as she was firing, she counted "3...2...1..." counted Catherine, Once all three shots were firing she very quickly ejected the clip and loaded another. Her ammo clips were large enough to hold 3 bullets each, she also laid out her spare ammo clips in a straight row along the window sill in front of her, to save her time from having to reach down to her belt and retrieve them from the pouches that held them.

Every now and then she would press the talk button on her radio, "Marina, how you holding up??" asked Catherine.

"I'm fine, stop worrying about me!!" Marina answered back sternly.

Catherine didn't care about Marina's attitude, just the fact that she was answering back, showed that she was still safe.

Meanwhile in the streets below, the squad was advancing steadily, the landmines were successfully disarmed, the tanks were cleared and the shock troopers were keeping everyone safe.

Back at the factory, Catherine continued to cover everyone from her high position, but kept an eye out all around her. But she was beginning to have doubts about whether the report was true, was the Oka Nieba truly in Bruhl??.

At the same time, on the far right flank, where Ted Ustinov, Nancy Dufour and Juno Coren were, also Lynn, Wendy and Karl as well. Ted, who was firing his rifle up at an enemy sniper, happened to see a flash of black jump from one rooftop to the next, followed by three other blurs of black, but all were moving to fast for him to see what they really were when he looked again.

"Hey Ted, stay focused!!" shouted Juno, the leader of the group.

Ted brought his head back and shook it, getting re-focused on his task. What he didn't know was that four Oka Nieba soldiers had just moved past him and his group and were heading for his friend, Marina Wulfstan.

A short distance back, Marina Wulfstan was coolly and calmly sniping off enemy soldiers below. But out of the corner of her eye she happened to see something, something fast approaching. She looked away from her scope and saw four figures in black, gracefully jumping from rooftop to rooftop, performing nimble acrobatic front, back, and side flips as they moved towards Marina's position.

Marina quickly brought her radio up to her mouth, "Catherine I have…one…two…three…four enemies making their way towards my position, they're definitely not normal soldiers." said Marina.

Back at the factory, Catherine O'Hara's heart froze in her chest, "They're here…the Oka Nieba are here…" thought Catherine. She then brought the radio up to her mouth, "Marina, get out of there, you don't know what your up against, get back to the squad!!"

"I told you, don't worry about me, I can look after myself!!" replied Marina before her radio cut off.

But Catherine quickly left the window sill she was at, ran all the way across the factory and looked back towards where Marina's position was. And she did indeed see 4 figures dressed in black scurrying along the rooftops towards Marina's sniping position.

"Hang on dear, I'm coming" said Catherine aloud, she then turned to head towards the stairs leading to the lower levels of the factory and proceeded down the stairs. But a figure dressed all in black dropped from an open window on the roof and landed in front of Catherine just as she reached the bottom of the stairs. The masked figure then looked up at Catherine, drawing a long sword from her sheath and taking a fighting stance.

Catherine immediately saw a pair of emerald green eyes looking at her through the eye slit. Cathrine gulped, "Ellen??" asked Catherine softly, holding her rifle to her chest.

"Catherine O'Hara!… I WARED YOU!!, what do you think your doing here!!" said a very familiar voice. And the masked figure removed her facemask, revealing that it was indeed Ellen. Though she was no longer the young girl she once was, she was a full grown woman now, just like Catherine was.

Catherine then glared at Ellen, "Stop this Ellen, I don't wanna fight you, I have to go save a comrade." said Catherine, attempting to move past Ellen. But Ellen screamed angrily and took a swing at Catherine, who was able to bring her rifle up and in front of herself, blocking the blade, she then moved back.

"Why are you still in the military, I warned you about what would happen if I saw you again." said Ellen, bringing her sword up and pointing it towards Catherine threateningly.

"Ellen, I don't wanna fight you, but if you don't let me go and save my comrade… then you leave me little choice." said Catherine, getting into a low, ready position, ready to use her gun to defend herself and as a possible blunt weapon against Ellen's sword.

Meanwhile, back on ground level, Ted, Lynn, Karl, Wendy, Nancy and Juno were steadily moving down a side road, located just to the right of Bruhl road where the rest of the squad was. They were moving to flank the enemy from the side, their mission, to take out one of the three anti-tank turrets and secure a forward supply base along the way.

Just then they heard an explosion go off behind them, everyone whipped their heads back and saw one of the windows of the house that Marina was stationed it blow out, smoke and flames flying out the window, debris raining down onto the streets below.

"No…Marina!!" shouted Ted

"What the…no enemies got past us or the rest of the squad, how did they get to Marina's position without any of us seeing??" asked Juno.

"Come on guys, we've got to save her!!" shouted Ted, eagerly digging his heels into the ground, ready to take off at a moments notice.

Juno stopped and pondered, "Hang on uh…." said Juno, rubbing her hand against her chin, deciding whether to go back and save Marina or press on like Welkin ordered. For her, both choices were tough, cuz they both affected how Welkin might feel towards her afterwards. Disobey his orders or follow his orders to the letter.

"Ah screw this, I'm going!!" shouted Ted, standing up and running back to Marina's position full speed. Nancy looked back at Ted then at Juno. "I'm gonna go help him out." and she too took off.

"Alright, alright, we've sent back two soldiers to help Marina. The rest of you with me!!" shouted Juno, "We need to destroy those anti-tank turrets and secure that base to allow Welkin and the other's to press on, MOVE!!" and the rest of the soldiers with Juno charged forward, continuing on with the mission.

"Please be safe, please be safe" thought Ted as he ran back the way he and the others had come, back to help Marina.

"Hold up Ted, I'm coming to help ya!!" shouted Nancy. Ted looked over his shoulder and than slowed his pace to allow her to catch up.

"Thanks a lot Nancy, I owe ya one" said Ted, smiling at her. The two then ran as fast as they could to Marina's sniping position.

Meanwhile, inside of the giant house that Marina was in, Marina was running down the halls of the giant interior. She had already killed one of the female Oka Nieba soldiers with a cleverly planted trap, blowing that person up when she tried to sneak in through a window. And now Marina was letting the other's chase her, so she could lead them to yet more hidden and deadly traps that she had laid out around the house.

As she ran down the hall she jumped over a tripwire, ran a short distance and stopped just past the doorframe to the bathroom, turned and aimed her rifle down the hall. She saw another female soldier with a sword looking at her down the hall. Marina fired a shot, purposely missing and then faking anger as she pretended that she had run out of bullets, cursing as she pulled rifle bolt back.

The Oka Nieba soldier raised her sword and charged at Marina, Marina got ready to defend herself. But the soldier's legs hit the tripwire and a shotgun came swinging down from the doorframe and fired off a blast that hit the soldier square in the chest, blowing her back and breaking through a closed door down the hall.

Marina smiled, "Two down, two to go" thought Marina, loading a fresh clip into her rifle. But just then she heard something, outside the bathroom window on the ground below. Two voices, two familiar sounding voices.

"Marina!" shouted Ted's voice

"Hang on Marina, we're coming!!" shouted Nancy's voice.

Marina rushed to the nearby window, drew the curtain back and looked down at the ground and sure enough she saw Nancy Dufour and Ted Ustinov rushing towards the front door of the house she was inside.

"No no…" thought Marina, rushing out of the bathroom and towards the staircase. But another Oka Nieba soldier appeared and swung her sword at Marina, Marina ducked under the sword swing and the attackers blade sunk into the nearby door frame. Marina stood back up and hit the attacker in the face with the butt of her rifle, then kicked her hard, she didn't have time to waste on her, she had to warn Ted and Nancy about the booby trap she had laid out on the front door.

But, she was too little too late, Ted and Nancy had reached the door. Ted tried turning the door knob but it was locked, not surprising. He tried slamming his shoulder into the side of the door to get it open and the door gave part way, opening up a little more with each hit, but at the same time a grenade with a string tired to the pin was getting closer and closer to having the pin taken out as the string around the pin tightened the more the door opened up.

Ted moved back and rubbed his shoulder in pain, "Alright, stand aside, I've seen this done in the movies and have always wanted to try it." said Nancy, handing her rifle to Ted and rubbing her hands together. She drew her pistol, in case anyone was behind the door as soon as it was open and aimed it towards the doorway. She took a few steps back to get some speed. Nancy then rushed at the door and kicked it open with one leg, then rushed inside.

"Excellent work, girl." thought Ted, he was himself was about to rush inside, but just as he got into the doorway. There was a powerful explosion that threw him back with great force and he landed on the ground hard, sliding across the grass before hitting a fence a short distance away.

Ted's ears were ringing and he had some smoke, dust and cuts on his face, but those were the least of his worries. He sat up and looked at the doorway, the entire frame was on fire and thick, black smoke could be seen billowing out. Ted's mouth dropped open and he was too shocked to say anything, for Nancy had just rushed in moments ago…but was now gone.

"N…Nancy…NANCY!!" cried Ted as he sat on the ground, bloodied and deafened by the blast.

Back at the Factory, Catherine was still fighting with Ellen, both girls had lost their main weapons in the struggle before hand and were now fighting hand to hand. But Catherine's attention was broken by the sound of a massive explosion, coming from the direction of Marina's sniping location. She turned her head and looked out the large window, seeing a tall column of smoke rising from Marina's sniping location.

Catherine was then punched hard across the cheek by Ellen who took advantage of Catherine's lapse in concentration, sending her rolling across the wooden floor. Ellen then jumped on top of Catherine, drawing a large hunting knife as she did. She turned the blade around in her hand and tried to stab Catherine, but she quickly grabbed Ellen by the wrist with her left hand. Both of their hands now trembling as Ellen tried to push the blade closer to Catherine's face, rather her neck and Catherine struggling to hold the blade back.

"You Gallian bastard." snarled Ellen, baring her teeth, "Die!!"

"Ellen stop, Ellen don't do this!!" pleaded Catherine, sweat all across her face, her cheeks bruised from the punches she had received.

"Die!!" screamed Ellen, pushing the blade even closer.

Catherine then summoned all her might and sunk her nails deep into Ellen's wrist, then twisted as hard as she could to the left, Ellen screamed in pain and effort as she tried to straighten her wrist. But Catherine had twisted just enough so that now the blade was no longer pointed at her, and with that out of the way she swung her face forward in a powerful head butt, both of the girls foreheads slammed against each other. A sickening *crack* sound rang out as their heads collided. Ellen then collapsed to the right, hitting the wooden floor hard and remained still, Catherine's head fell back and she closed her eyes and fell unconscious.

Meanwhile back at the house where Marina was, she herself was just starting to come to, the explosion had destroyed the lower level of the house and collapsed the staircase she was running down to try and stop Ted and Nancy from springing another of her traps. Marina started to sit up, coughing and choking on the smoke and dust that was lingering in the air after the explosion.

She then heard a voice calling her name, but it was hard to tell which direction it was coming from.

"Marina!, Marina where are you??" asked the voice.

Once the ringing in her ears began to die down she recognized that it was Ted's voice. "Ted…" said Marina softly, mostly because her lungs hurt. She tried to stand up but her right leg was hurting, possibly from the fall, so she began to drag herself across the floor, moving over bits of broken wood, broken glass and other debris that lay scattered everywhere.

Marina then looked to her left and saw the Oka Nieba soldier she was fighting with earlier laying face down a short distance away, she made her way over and once she was close enough she placed her hand against the soldiers neck, checking for a pulse, and there was none. She then saw why, she had fallen on her own sword after the explosion and impaled herself. Marina shook her head.

"Marina, where are you??" asked Ted's voice, a little closer now.

Marina sat up a little more, holding her hand against her ribs, "Here…" said Marina painfully, it seemed that now she may have also broken one or two on her ribs on her left side as it hurt to breath in deep and speak.

Ted heard this and walked slowly down the hall, some of the walls were still burning and there was smoke everywhere. He was too focused on what was ahead of him that he didn't notice Nancy Dufour's body laying in front of him until he tripped over her and fell to the ground on top of her. Marina heard Ted collapsed and summoned what strength she could and crawled along the floor until she saw Ted through the smoke, he was kneeling next to Nancy, she was already dead.

There were large, deep cuts into her back from the shrapnel thrown by the grenade, as well as burns from the blast. Sadly, she had died with her eyes open, her glasses lay next to her, shattered and twisted, her blue and red barrette hat lay a short distance ahead of her, crumpled, part of it was burned and smoking.

Once Marina reached Ted she reached forward and wrapped her right hand around his throat. Squeezing with all her might in anger and rage. "I didn't ask you to come and save me. Look!, look what you did!!" growled Marina, Ted made no attempt to stop her, he just hung his head in shame and let her squeeze harder and harder, he just sat there gagging and choking. Marina's ribs began to hurt again, so she released her grip around Ted and brought her hand back and held her sides in pain.

Marina breathed slow, and caught her breath once again, "I told you, I told everyone, I can handle myself…" said Marina.

"I'm sorry Marina…we just came to help you…" said Ted slowly, he was also collecting Nancy's dog tags from around her neck. As soon as he was done with that he closed her eyes for her with his right hand and said a small prayer for her.

"I had everything under control…I had them right where I wanted them…" said Marina, still very angry. She then glared back at Ted who was now standing up and looking down at both her and Nancy with sadness and shame in his eyes.

"I'm sorry Marina…" said Ted

But just then the most horrifying thought came to her, "where's the fourth?!?" asked Marina, looking up at Ted with horror in her eyes. Three of her attackers were dead, but four were sent after her.

"Wha-AAAAHHHH!!" cried Ted, as a blade was shoved through his back, the tip of the sword piercing straight through and appearing out from his chest, blood dripping from the blade. The now mask less face of the 4th Oka Nieba soldier appeared over Ted's right shoulder, she was young, had jet black hair and dark green eyes.

"NNOO!!" screamed Marina, Ted choked on some blood, than looked down at Marina for a moment before the blade was pulled back out of him and he was shoved away hard to the side by the 4th Oka Nieba soldier, his body crumbling to the ground below in what looked like a lifeless heap.

Enraged Marina drew her Father's 8 inch long hunting from a long sheath attached to the back of her belt, sideways and got up, charging at her opponent in a rage. The Oka Nibea soldier moved back as Marina took a wild swing at her, and followed that up with a back handed sweep, both swings missed.

Marina swung a third time, but the soldier ducked under it, stepped around Marina, flanking her, then sliced her blade across Marina's back, the cut however was shallow and it only enraged Marina even more.

Marina turned around, swinging her right hand around as she did and the back of her fist connected with the soldiers face, stunning her for a moment. Marina then rushed at her and tackled her hard to the ground, both girls lost their weapons as Marina and the soldier crashed through a doorway and began grappling on the ground.

The soldier however was not injured like Marina was and she took advantage of Marina's injuries. As they fought on the ground, she would knee Marina hard in the side of her injured right leg, Marina screaming in pain with each thrust. Marina grabbed the girl by the throat with her right hand and tried to choke her as she lay on top of her. This enraged the female soldier even more and she started to punch Marina in the ribs, hitting her already broken ribs, causing great pain. Marina's grip weakened and the soldier followed that up with a punch across the cheek so hard it semi-knocked Marina out as stars began to dance in front of her eyes.

The female soldier looked back and to her right, spotting Marina's sniper rifle laying on the ground. She quickly got up and picked up the sniper rifle and stood over Marina, glaring down at her. Marina began to regain consciousness and now looked up at the rifle barrel aimed directly at her face. An evil smile spread across the female enemies face as she pulled the bolt back, loading a new round in the chamber, Marina just looked up at her. It truly was a defeat worse then anything she could possibly think of, to be killed by her own sniper rifle.

Suddenly the female soldiers eyes opened up wide and she released a gasp of pain and fell to her knees. Ted's head then appeared over her shoulder and he took Marina's hunting knife blade out of her back and stabbed her once more in the side with Marina's hunting knife, yelling in anger as he did. The female soldier cried out in pain once more, and leaned forward, her trembling hand reached down to her right boot, she then retrieved her own combat knife and stabbed Ted in the side as she stabbed her blade backwards into him, both grunted and growled in pain. The female soldier then fell forward and hit the ground dead, while Ted fell back against the floor, breathing hard and groaning in pain.

Marina quickly sat up and looked towards Ted, she used all her might to crawl over to him. She then reached him and laid next to him, looking down at his grave wounds, and she could do nothing as he lay dying.

Ted continued to breath hard, but he managed to look up at Marina and smile, "Marina…your safe…" said Ted, reaching up with his right hand and running it along her cheek.

"Ted…Ted you idiot…I didn't ask you to come save me" cried Marina, her entire body shaking in anger

"You didn't have to, I'm your friend, it's what friend's do" said Ted, smiling a weak smile as he lay on his back, looking up at Marina beside him.

Despite how angry and shaking she was, a small smile began to form on her mouth, "You…you did save me…in the end."

Ted smiled even brighter, reached up a bit further and brushed aside the hair in front of Marina's face, now looking into both of her eyes for the first time. Marina smiled a little more and placed her hand on top of Ted's that was against her cheek.

Ted chuckled weakly, "Hehe...You see I…told you I'd…make you…smile…" said Ted, his eyes closing, his hand falling away from Marina's face and hitting the ground hard. But, the smile he had on his face didn't fade one bit, he had passed on peacefully after achieving the most important goals he has set for himself. Befriending Marina, protecting her and making her smile.

Marina looked down at Ted, she was filled with so many feelings. Anger that she let herself get close to someone only to have this happen, sadness that she had lost a friend, but happy that he died peacefully.

Just then she felt something, something that she hadn't felt for a long time, something running down her right eye. Surprised she touched her cheek and looked down at her finger tips, which were now wet with some moisture. "Tears..." thought Maria, but she shook her head, "No no…I made a promise, a promise to father that I wouldn't cry again…to be strong, no matter what happens."

But she couldn't help herself as more and more tears started to fall from her eyes. She growled in anger and an attempt to stop herself, she also brought both of her trembling palms up to cover her face. A memory flashed through her mind, of her father's final moments before a serious illness claimed his life.

-------

"_Marina…you must be a strong girl, you are all that remains of the Wulfstan family." said her father's voice, "Be strong, be proud, and never shed a tear for me."_

"_I promise father, I will be strong, as strong as you want me to be. I won't shed a tear, ever…" replied Marina as she sat next to her father on his death bed in their cabin, holding his hand. Her father smiled and closed his eyes, peacefully pacing on. But true to her word, Marina just lowered her head, didn't cry or shed any tears afterwards, she just said a small prayer for him._

-------

That old memory and the loss of Ted finally did it for Marina, and she threw her head back, releasing a long, sorrowful scream as the tears she held back for so long came streaming steadily out of her eyes and down her cheeks, dripping to the ground.

While all of this was going on, Squad 7 was just a block away from the windmill Plaza, the monumental windmill now fully visible, their objective very close at hand.

But back in the factory, Catherine O'Hara was regaining consciousness, but what she saw when she awoke startled her, a seemingly gigantic blade coming towards her, so she rolled to the left, dodging the blade as it sank into floor board, rather then her.

She looked back and saw Ellen struggling to pull her blade out of the floor boards, but Catherine didn't waste any time as she charged towards her, tackling her and crashing through a pile of crates and hay close by. The shock of the impact knocked a nearby lamp off it's hook and it crashed to the ground below, shattering and igniting a very large, nearby oil puddle from the neglected machinery abandoned in the occupation. And as the fire spread the entire factory was starting to go up in flames.

This however didn't stop Catherine and Ellen from fighting, both girls had lots of bruises, cuts on their face and lips and a black eye each. Catherine still tried to reason with Ellen, even as they fought.

"Enough Ellen, stop fighting!!" cried Catherine, dodging punches thrown by Ellen.

"No!, you Gallians killed my parents, you killed my friends!!" screamed Ellen, punching Catherine across the face, sending her flying backwards. She then saw her hunting knife close by and picked it up, swung her blade through the air and it connected with Catherine's arm, slicing deep, a short ways above the elbow. Catherine yelped in pain and backed away, but bumped into a large wooden crate behind her, she had no where else to go now. Ellen charged at Catherine, pressing her body against Catherine's pinning her against the box. She brought her blade up and tried to stab Catherine once more, but she moved to the right and Ellen stabbed the box instead, she quickly recovered it and took another stab at her, Catherine once more caught Ellen by her wrist and tried to hold the blade back, with the other she was choking Ellen by the throat, while Ellen was trying to choke Catherine as well with her free hand.

All this time, all around the two girls, the fire in the factory was getting fiercer and fiercer, the wooden boxes, hay and oil only helped to spread the fire and make it burn more quickly.

Sweat dripped off of Ellen's face with effort and exhaustion, teeth bared, her emeralf eyes burning and seemingly glowing with anger as she continued to try and stab Catherine with her blade. Catherine was breathing hard as well, doing all she could to hold the blade back, she too was near complete exhaustion from the long fight.

Catherine then looked deep at Ellen's emerald green eyes with her own bright blue eyes, "It won't bring your friends or family back…" said Catherine. Ellen stopped pushing and looked down at Catherine. "But if you must… go ahead, take my life, take your revenge…", Catherine then removed her hands from Ellen's throat and wrist and held her arms out to her side, allowing Ellen to stab her at her will.

But, Ellen remained where she was, oblivious to the smoke, fire and heat all around her. "What do you know about friends… you abandoned me…" said Ellen, her knife hand shaking.

A loud rumbling overhead caused both girls to look up and they saw the roof being to collapse. Without a moment's hesitation Catherine reached forward, grabbed Ellen and swung her hard to the right, out of harms way as wooden beams and tiles rained down on her.

Shocked, but unhurt Ellen remained where she was, but quickly sat up and saw Catherine, laying face down, underneath a pile of wood and metal. She quickly sat up and looked towards Catherine, who looked back up at her and smiled a very weak. "Thank goodness… your safe…" said Catherine, her head slumping forward and hitting the ground.

Back at the Plaza, Squad 7 had just destroyed the last anti-tank turret, all that remained were a few shock troopers, some lancers and an officer, who wasn't about to give up without a fight. But as Vyse was moving from cover behind a pile sandbag's with Aika, he happened to look back and see the factory where Catherine was, he saw some billowing thick black smoke rising from the building as well as some flames flickering from a hole in the roof.

"Catherine!!" shouted Vyse, he then took off running back down the street they had come from. Aika looked over her shoulder and saw Vyse running, "Vyse, where do you think your going?!?" she shouted, standing up and running after him.

Rosie, Largo and Alicia who were moving along side the Edelweiss happened to see Vyse and Aika running in the opposite direction of battle. But they had to focus on finishing the task at hand, which would be completed in moments.

Back at the factory, Ellen had finally gotten up and crawled back to Catherine's side, "Catherine…y-you saved me…" said Ellen.

Catherine smiled from the ground, "Of course I did…you're my friend…" said Catherine, her eyes were closing.

"No-No Catherine, stay awake, I'll…I'll get us out of here, hang on." said Ellen, Ellen then began to remove large pieces of wood and bits of steel that were on top of her.

"Forget me deary, just go…" said Catherine, still smiling as she said those words.

"Catherine…" said Ellen, tears falling from her eyes as she struggled to lift a heavy timber off of her.

But the shifting of the material caused even more debris to come crashing down on top of Ellen this time, now she too was trapped next to Catherine.

Catherine looked at Ellen and Ellen looked back at her, no words were exchanged, both were now trapped and had no way out. Catherine just reached over and took hold of Ellen's hand and gave it a squeeze, Ellen squeezed back and both girls lowered their heads.

"Aisha…sweetie, I'm sorry…" said Catherine softly as the flames burned even more intensely all around them.

Just then they heard a window break and two figures could be seen running towards them, one was Vyse, the other was Aika. Both of their uniforms were drenched with water from a water barrel outside, both had wet blankets over their face and mouths.

"Miss O'Hara!!" shouted Vyse as he reached Catherine and knelt beside her, looking at all of the debris piled on top of her.

Aika and Vyse then proceeded to carefully take pieces of wood and other objects off of her. Catherine then looked over at Aika, "Aika, help my friend as well, we've got to save her too." begged Catherine, Aika looked over at the Imperial soldier trapped beside Catherine.

"An Imperial??" asked Aika, Catherine shook her head.

"NO!, My friend, help my friend!!" instructed Catherine.

Aika thought for a moment then nodded her head, and as Vyse attempted to free Catherine, Aika started to remove debris that was trapping Catherine's friend. But Ellen held her hand up, "Soldier, just focus on getting Catherine out!!" ordered Ellen, another very large piece of timber fell from the ceiling and crushed Ellen's trapped legs, she screamed in pain, Aika fell back. "Get Catherine out!!"

Aika nodded and moved back to Catherine, and attempted to help Vyse free her.

"No!, Please guys, help Ellen!!" pleaded Catherine, but everyone, including Catherine knew that not everyone could be saved, so Vyse and Aika kept on working on trying to free only Catherine.

Another large wooden block fell on top of Ellen, and started to crush her, she coughed up some blood as the mighty weight of all the debris on top of her began to crush her. But Ellen raised her head, "Not yet…I won't die yet…" said Ellen, she then reached up to her neck and removed something, and handed it to Catherine. Catherine immediately recognized it as the pendant she gave to Ellen during the 1st Europan war.

"Ellen wha…" started Catherine, but Ellen just smiled, some blood dripping down the side of her mouth. "It was all I had to remember you by…" said Ellen, softly.

Catherine was just about freed now, "Please Ellen, don't give up…" begged Catherine.

Ellen smiled once more once she saw that Catherine was now freed, injured, but free, Vyse and Aika were supporting her, once under each arm, a wet blanket over all three of their heads.

"Ellen…my friend…" said Catherine, tears flowing down her cheeks.

Ellen's eyes began to close, "Thank you…I had always hoped…that you would call me friend again…" said Ellen.

The entire roof now began to creak and squeal, it was ready to come down at any moment. Vyse and Aika quickly ran forward, dragging Catherine along with them as she looked back at Ellen, still trapped.

The roof then began to come down, Ellen looked up, saw the falling wreckage, then looked towards Catherine and filled her lungs with as much as she could for one last scream "GO Catherine!!" she screamed, before she was buried underneath the flaming wreckage of the rooftop.

Catherine witnessed this, and brought her head back and looked down at the ground as Vyse and Aika were supporting her as they ran as fast as they could. She then threw her head back, "ELLEN!!" she screamed in extreme emotional pain and anguish. This tore Vyse and Aika's heart out as they attempted to outrun the collapsing rooftop.

Back outside, Juno Coren and Audrey Heitinga were doing their best to hold back young Aisha Neumann. "Let go!, Let go of me!!, Aunty Cathy is still inside we have to save her." she cried, kicking and screaming, trying to go in and rescue Catherine O'Hara herself.

Juno then looked up at burning building, seeing how weak the structure was becoming. "Move back, the whole things gonna come down." and both of the girls picked up Aisha and moved to cover behind a large pile of sandbags nearby. The building started to come down moments later.

Aisha saw this and began to scream in anger and agony, "He promised me…he promised he would keep Aunty Cathy safe!!" screamed Aisha as she pounded the ground with her fists.

Juno lowered her head in sadness for a moment and looked back up, she then saw something through the thick some of the open doorway... moments later Aika, Vyse and Catherine all came crashing through the door, rolling along the ground, choking, gasping and breathing in some fresh air. Juno, Aisha and Audrey rushed forward, over the sandbags, Aisha and Audrey grabbed a hold of Catherine and began to drag her away from the collapsing factory, while Vyse and Juno dragged Aika away and everyone was now safely back behind the sandbags, away from danger just as the factory collapsed in on itself.

With everyone safely behind the cover of the sandbags, they all breathed sighs of relief. Aisha crawled over Juno, Aika and Vyse towards Catherine as she lay back, breathing deeply in and out. As soon as she reached her she wrapped her arms around her neck and hugged her, crying tears of relief and happiness now.

"Aisha…sweetie…" said Catherine, hugging Aisha back, ignoring how much her body hurt.

Aisha then looked over at Vyse with teary, red eyes, "Thank you so much , you kept your promise!!" cried Aisha. Vyse coughed and tried to get his breath back but he nodded his head and gave her a thumbs up.

Aika sat up and looked down at everyone, "Hang on guys, I'll go get a medic!!" she said, and she ran down the street, hand against the side of her mouth, "MEDIC MEDIC!!" she yelled over and over again.

Audrey and Juno then took Catherine to the shade of a nearby tree and laid a blanket and another rolled up blanket to use as a pillow for her head. They carefully laid the injured Catherine on the blanket and watched over her as they waited for a medic to come.

But Catherine sat up, despite the concerned looks from Audrey and Juno. Catherine looked back towards the destroyed factory, where her old friend and student lay buried.

"Ellen…" said Catherine sadly, she then looked down at her gloved right hand and saw the G-shaped pendant with the red, white and blue background in her hand. The same one she gave to Ellen during the 1st Europan war, but that Ellen had now returned to her. A few more tears rolled down her cheeks before she closed her right hand softly around her pendant, "Good-bye….Ellen…"


	39. Chapter 39

**Ok...I promise, this will be the last dark, grim chapter until after Christmas...I gotta stop doing this during the Christmas holiday, it just feels so...WRONG, to write this dark, dreary, grim stuff during a merry holiday :*(. I'll start working on the next one right now so we don't end on a grim note...**

**Chapter 39- Friendly Fire**

The assault element of Squad 7, which included nearly everyone other then Vyse, Aika, Juno, Aisha and the snipers were celebrating their victory at the windmill, in the center of the Plaza. High fives were being passed around, pats on the back and much joyous cheering and whistling going about.

This however was momentarily interrupted, when Aika could be heard running down the street, calling for a medic. And Fina, one of the three medics assigned to the squad, heard the call. She was just finishing up wrapping Theold's arm with many bandages, he had taken more then one bullet to his left arm, which for him was bad news, as the lances required a lot of physical strength to hold, fire and operate.

Fina looked back and saw Aika running towards the squad, "Hey Gina, Mind finishing this up for me??" asked Fina to her identical sibling.

"Sure thing Fina, I'll take it from here, you go see what Aika needs," said Gina, taking the medical bandage wrapping and gauze from Fina and continuing on with securing it in place.

"Hey Doc!, Doc!!" yelled Theold just before Fina took off, Fina looked back. "So what's the news… can I still fight??"

Fina eyes look downwards, an answer in itself. "Theold… were you not a lancer I might say yes, but there's no way you'll be able to ever properly hold a lance again. So… that's my answer, unless you can think of something else that doesn't require heavy lifting…. Then no… " said Fina, Theold gave a look of disgust and frustration, growling in anger as well. Fina just turned and began to jog towards Aika.

"What's wrong Aika, are you hurt??" asked Fina once she reached Aika. Aika stopped, bent forward and rested her hands on her knees, breathing hard and heavy as she had run the entire way from where Catherine, Vyse and the other's were.

"Cath…Catheri…" Aika huffed and puffed, still very winded, she finally took a deep breath and breathed out slow, then looked back up at Fina, sweat running down the sides of her face and gleaming against her forehead and cheeks. "I need you to come and see to Catherine O'Hara, she looks pretty banged up." said Aika

"Alright, take me to her." said Fina, but before she departed she ran back to the rest of the squad and retrieved her medical bag and began to run with Aika, back to Catherine's side. Close by, Welkin, who was going through a debriefing with Alicia, Largo and Roise happened to look up from his clipboard and see Aika and Fina running together down Bruhl road, away from the rest of the squad. Naturally this worried him, a medic running was indeed a sign that someone was hurt… or worse.

A short whole later, Aika had returned to Vyse and Catherine's side with Fina in tow just behind her. Aisha was still laying on top of Catherine, holding onto her and not wanting to let go. Catherine was holding onto Aisha, seeking comfort after losing her friend Ellen. Juno and Audrey were sitting side by side against the tree that Catherine was laying against on the other side.

Aika returned to Vyse's side and sat with him on top of the nearby sandbag pile, she looked over at him and smiled, he returned the smile. And Fina, went over to Catherine's side, knelt down next to her and set down her medical bag. "Hey Aisha, mind moving aside for a moment, I need to examine Catherine." asked Fina, tilting her head and giving a smile.

Aisha looked at Fina first, then turned and looked at Catherine, "Yes sweetie, I'm gonna need you to let go of me, only for a few moments." said Catherine, smiling up at Aisha. Aisha sighed and nodded.

"Look after Aunty Cathy, alright" said Aisha, slowly getting off of Catherine and moving off to the side. Fina nodded and moved in close to Catherine, examining her very closely, seems that she would have her hands full. Catherine had cuts, bruises, possible fractures and other internal injuries, but all in all nothing Fina couldn't handle.

Fina then began to see to Catherine's wounds, using ragnaid capsules to heal what she could, cleaning her wounds with iodine and other anti-bacterial liquids, wrapping and covering her cuts with gauze and bandages and cracking a portable ice pack and letting Catherine hold it against her bruised face.

Vyse and Aika watched on as Fina did her medical duties well, "That girl's got quite some excellent healing skill…" complimented Vyse.

Aika nodded, "Somehow… I can't help but feel that we've seen her before, she seems so… familiar… don't you think??" asked Aika

Vyse held his hand against his chin and nodded, "hmmm… yeah your right, something about her does make me feel like we've known her for a very long time… can't quite put my finger on it."

Just then they heard the Edelweiss coming down the street, behind it they saw a jeep carrying Captain Varrot, so naturally everyone, except Catherine and Fina got up, lined up in a row and came to attention.

The Edelweiss came to a halt nearby, the jeep the same and Welkin and Isara soon climbed out, Captain Varrot was now walking to the side of the Edelweiss just as Welkin and Isara jumped down from it.

"Who's injured??" asked Welkin, a look of concern on his face.

"Catherine O'Hara is sir, but she's extremely lucky to be alive right now." said Audrey

"Yeah, Vyse and Aika both ran into that burned down factory there and pulled Catherine right out of the flaming building and saved her life." added Juno, smiling at Vyse and Aika

"They did, did they??" asked Captain Varrot, looking towards Vyse and Aika.

"Yes Ma' am, I had a promise to keep to young Aisha, to keep Catherine O'Hara safe and I didn't intend on breaking it." said Vyse, holding his head up high

"Yeah well… I made no such promise myself, but hey, I couldn't let Vyse go in there alone, he's my buddy after all." said Aika, patting Vyse on the back.

"So that's why you two left the battle early." said Welkin, nodding his head

"Yeah… sorry about that, we should of told you," said Vyse, rubbing the back of his neck

"Considering what you did, saving Catherine O'Hara, it's more then understandable and commendable," said Welkin, "So much in fact that I think it deserves something special, a reward or medal perhaps." said Welkin

"I agree, this young man has done so much in service to the Gallian militia that I think he deserves the rank of Sergeant. With all of the duties and privileges that come with it." added Varrot, "His comrade Aika Thompson will be promoted to the rank of Corporal from this moment on as well. Is that to your liking, Sgt. Inglebard and Cpl. Thompson??"

Aika and Vyse's mouth's dropped open at the exact same moment, "Y-yeah, that's…wow thanks a lot, that's awesome." said Vyse, straightening his back and giving a salute to Captain Varrot.

"While I would gladly of saved Catherine for free, I won't refuse this promotion if you think it best." said Aika, standing up straight and giving a proper salute.

"I only wish I could do more, you two have done so much for us and other's that we can't thank you. You two truly are a blessing from across the sea, coming to us in our time of war and need." said Varrot, smiling proudly.

Just then, "Oh my god… Marina!!" said Audrey's voice from behind them.

Everyone looked and they saw Marina, limping towards the group, she was using her sniper rifle, in her right hand as a make shift crutch or walking stick to support her badly injured leg. Her left hand was held against the side of her ribs, where she had broke two or more of her ribs. Her uniform was covering in dust, soot and had rips, tears and cuts all over it, the back was worse, as a long, bloody cut ran all the way down her back from the sword slash from the Oka Nieba soldier she fought with. Her face was bloody and bruised and she looked very weak as she limped towards everyone.

"Marina!" shouted Welkin and everyone took off running towards her. And Marina, now seeing that help was finally coming, fell forward and collapsed to the ground, laying there until everyone circled around her.

"Marina!" shouted Aika, seeing the giant slash across her back.

Meanwhile, Fina pushed her way past everyone, including Captain Varrot and Welkin, not even thinking about them being her superior officers, rather, obstacles in the way of an injured patient. But Welkin and Captain Varrot understood this, it was her job after all and they moved aside.

After Fina saw to Marina's slash wound, and covered it with bandages, she, with the help of Aika and Audrey turned her over. Marina looked extremely weak and worn out, she was in worse shape then Catherine O'Hara was.

"Marina…what happened??" asked Welkin, extremely worried about his two and only snipers.

Marina looked up at Welkin and the others, closed her eyes, releasing a sigh "Lieutenant Welkin I-" started Marina.

But she was rudely interrupted by Montley Leonard, "WELKIN!!" shouted Montley as he ran towards everyone, running like he was always seen doing. He then reached the group, coming to a sliding stop, nearly taking out Welkin and Captain Varrot in the process.

"Welkin… I can't find Nancy or Ted anywhere, I ran all over town looking for them after the battle." said Montley, not even winded or looking tired after all his running, "Have you seen them??"

Welkin was just about to answer before Marina cut him off, "I killed them…" Marina said in an emotionless, cold tone.

Everyone gasped, Fina even stopped working on tending to Marina for a moment and looked down at her in shock as well.

"Y-you what?!?" said Montley, staring down at Marina with shock and confusion.

Marina pushed Fina away and she fell back, Marina then painfully sat up, hand against her ribs, she then turned and pointed towards the house she was last in, it was still burning slightly, smoke still rising from it. "I-I took my grenade…set it up at the front door and…Ted and Nancy went through and I blew them up…" said Marina, her face remaining blank and devoid of emotion.

Still, no one could believe what they were hearing, that Marina had killed two of her own squad mates.

"No…N-no, I don't believe you, no one could possibly do that!!" shouted Montley, he then got up and ran full speed towards the house in the distance.

"Private Leonard you get back here this instance!!" Ordered Varrot, but he paid her absolutely no attention.

"M-Marina… y-you…k-k-kill" Audrey stuttered, she couldn't even begin to form words after hearing Marina's confession.

Meanwhile Juno was turned away from the group, her right hand up to her mouth, trembling greatly. "It's my fault…" Juno said softly, she then turned back to the group. "It's my fault"

"What are you talking about??" said Welkin, turning to his old friend.

"Welkin, Ted saw that Marina was in trouble and wanted to go after her…I should of ordered him to remain with our group…but I didn't, I let him go, I didn't stop Nancy from going either." answered Juno, two tears falling from her eyes, her hand still against her face, trembling "I was in charge… but I let them go…I let them die…oh god it's all my fault!!" wailed Juno, collapsing to her knees and covering her face as she continued to cry. All the while Marina had her head down, still staring at the same spot she had looked since her confession, her face blank and emotionless.

"Marina was in trouble??" asked Welkin, tilting his head, now confused, he then looked back down at Marina, "Marina, it sounds like there's more to this story then to what your admitting…something your not telling us??"

Marina didn't answer, she continued to stare down at the ground, silent, emotionless. "What difference does it make, two people died because of me…" Marina plainly answered.

Captain Varrot knelt down until she was eye level with Marina, reached forward and placed her hand against Marinas chin and lifted it up so she could look straight into her in the eyes, or rather one eye. "Marina…listen very closely, tell us, what happened? Because the answer you give could very well determine the harshness of your punishment. If you are indeed directly responsible for the deaths of two squad mates… you could face time in military prison, or maybe even death by firing squad." warned Varrot.

"Be no less then what I deserve… I don't want your pity, they're dead and that's all there is to it." answered Marina, brushing Captain Varrot's hand away and looking back down at the ground.

Meanwhile, Montely Leonard had finally reached the house and he did indeed see that the front door was blown apart, the door frame had mostly burned to a charred black, some smaller flames still remained. But he would brave going inside, he had to see for himself if Marina did indeed do what she said she did. Was his friend Nancy truly dead and was it by Marina's hand??

Montely closed his eyes and exhaled a long breath before heading inside. Once in, his boots crunched over broken boards and wooden chips as he slowly moved forward. There was still some smoke in the air as Montely moved forward, he raised his hand up and held it against his mouth, releasing a cough every now and then, his eyes began to burn as he tried to see through the smoke.

*Crack*, he heard something that froze his heart, the sound of glass breaking underneath his boot. Rather then look down right away he closed his eyes once again, praying over and over it wasn't what he thought it was. His head tilted down and he moved his boot aside, the more he moved, the more his boot began to shake, for once it was moved away… he saw a pair of red glasses, the glass from the lenses scattered everywhere from his stepping on it, the frames broken and twisted even more.

Montely's body began to tremble as he slowly knelt down and reached out towards the glasses, he then picked them up and looked at them as tears began to form in his eyes. He slow raised his head and could now see Nancy, laying face down on the floor a short distance away. The back of her uniform ripped apart and blood stained by the shrapnel and the grave wounds they caused, the material burned by the explosion as well. Montely looked further ahead and saw her blue and red hat laying a short distance ahead of her, he crawled on hands and knees towards it and picked it up, then moved back to Nancy's side.

"Why…" asked Montley, looking down at the glasses in his right hand and her hat in his left hand. He then put both items in his left hand and crawled closer to Nancy, his right hand slowly reaching out and now resting on top of the hair on her head. Very slowly he began to stroke her head as memories of she and Montley began to play through his mind and there were many.

For Montley and Nancy did join squad 7 together just before the Fouzen mission, when 5 of Squad 7's veteran members went missing. And since the new replacement unit they made up was small, the bond of their friendship was strong, for both were new and both were inexperienced. But what Montley enjoyed most about Nancy was her clumsiness, he strongly remembered on more then one occasion of her dropping her bullets in the heat of battle at the Marberry coast, and him running back across the beach to pick them up for her, dodging bullets and tracer rounds in the process.

He even remembered that promise they made to each other, "Stick with me and we'll make it through this war." Montley remembered saying to her

"I fight better, with you around." she replied in her adorable speaking voice, that line echoing over and over in his mind.

"But I wasn't around…I left you and you died…I let you die…" thought Montely as he continued petting the back of his deceased friends head, some tears dripping from his eyes.

"Marina!" thought Montely angrily, he remembered her words well, "_I killed them_…", "This is her fault…".

His gaze then turned to Nancy's right hand, her fingers were still wrapped around her sidearm pistol, almost like a sign of what to do. So carefully, and respectfully he pried it out of her fingers, pulled the slide back and loaded a round into the chamber. He looked down at Nancy once last time and placed his hand against her shoulder, "I'll get her for you…I'll avenge you…. My friend", Montely then stood up and began to walk out of the house, disappearing into the smoke as he made his way to the door.

Meanwhile, Juno Coren was busy with Welkin, explaining the events that lead up to Marina's confession. She told Welkin that they had seen a window blow out from an explosion of some kind, then Ted and Nancy taking off to go and see if they could help in anyway.

Welkin nodded, "I see, so they did go to help. That must mean that she was in some kind of battle of her own against Imperial units." said Welkin, he then began to walk back to where Marina was, everyone still gathered around her.

"Alright Marina, I think it's time you told us what really happened. It could not of been as simple as you stated." said Welkin, his voice alittle stern.

"Why" was all Marina asked

"Because I'm trying to help you, I'm trying to see that this gets resolved with as much truth as there is to it. There has to of been more that happened." said Welkin, the others began to nod in agreement.

"What happened after Ted and Nancy came to you??" asked Captain Varrot, still kneeling next to Marina, waiting for her reply.

"They got blown up by one of my grenades…" answered Marina plainly once again

"Did you deliberately remove the pin and throw it at them as they approached??" asked Welkin, hand against his chin

Marina remained silent, "Marina!!, answer the question, NOW!!" ordered Varrot

"No…" was all Marina replied

Everyone looked at each other, "So what happened??" asked Welkin

Marina sighed, "During the battle, I laid a bunch of traps around the house, the front door being one of them. I attached a grenade to the door and ran a string across it, so that it would go off, should anyone attempt to gain entry." said Marina.

"A booby trap??" said Audrey, offering a possible answer.

"Yes…" answered Marina.

Welkin looked down and thought about everything he had just heard, "So what I'm guessing is that, when Ted and Nancy came to help you… they must of tripped that trap when they tried to get in." said Welkin.

Marina just nodded her head, "I see…that's tragic…" said Varrot

"It doesn't change what happened, they died because of one of my traps. So I killed them…" said Marina, she didn't mention anything about Ted because to her it made no difference, might make a world of difference to her punishment, but that was something she didn't care about anymore.

Welkin's expressions turned to one of concern, "Marina… that sounds more like an accident then anything else." said Welkin.

"It cost two people their lives… and it's my fault" said Marina, lowering her head "Do what you will with me, I accept any punishment you deem fit."

Captain Varrot looked at Welkin, then unexpectedly reached forward and placed her hand on top of Marina's shoulder sympathetically, her eyes softening as well as she looked down at Marina. She then got up, turned and walked over to Welkin and together they walked a short distance away.

"I do believe it was an accident." said Varrot, "But I do not think this is something I can just let slide, two of your members are dead and Marina's trap is the cause of it."

"Captain Varrot, Marina is the best sniper we've got, surely there must be something we can do." said Welkin

Captain Varrot lowered her head and thought for a moment, but then "Montley!!" said Aika's voice in shock and horror.

They turned and saw Montely, walking down the street, a trembling hand gun held in his right hand, his face contorted in an expression of rage, teeth bared and all. Everyone immediately knew who he was after, Marina Wulfstan.

Aika and Audrey immediately reached down and grabbed one of Marina's arms and began to drag her back towards the Edelweiss, Juno Coren attempting to move forward and calm Montley down, her hands held up in front of her defensively.

"Now Montely, calm down, there's something you don't know" pleaded Juno as she approached Montley, Montley didn't hesitate in striking Juno across the face in a pistol whip motion, sending her to the ground and out of his way.

He then raised the handgun and began to shoot at Marina as she was being dragged to safety by Aika and Audrey, the bullets struck to the ground just behind her boots that were dragging across the ground and hitting the tank armour as well. The girls then made it safely to the other side of the Edelweiss, hiding behind it's massive armour.

Vyse was shielding Fina with his body as he lead her to safety, behind a thick nearby tree. Isara and Audrey were pulling, Catherine to the other side of the tree she was resting under. And Welkin, concerned for his superior officers safety grabbed her and took her to the side of a nearby building.

"Release me Lieutenant Welkin, we have to stop Montely, he's a danger to the other squad members." ordered Captain Varrot, trying to reach for her pistol in it's pouch on her belt.

"I can't let you do that Captain, not until we find a way to get everyone out of here alive." said Welkin.

Meanwhile Aika and Audrey were on either side of Marina behind the Edelweiss, backs pressed against the massive tank treads. "Things are getting out of control…" said Aika

"Yea-" started Audrey before she was elbowed hard in the side of the head by Marina, knocking her unconscious as she crumbled to the ground.

Aika looked down at her, then at Marina, who was reaching down to Aika's sidearm pistol pouch, "What do you think your doing??" asked Aika, grabbing Marina by the wrist, trying to stop her.

"What needs to be done…" said Marina, and with her free hand, she thrust the palm of her hand into the side of Aika's head and she fell sideways, her head striking the metal treads and knocking her out. Marina sigh and began to walk around the Edelweiss. Montley in the meantime had run out of bullets and was cursing. He then looked up and saw Marina, standing there with a gun in her hand.

"Gonna kill me now, like you did my friend??" asked Montley dropping the empty gun to the ground.

Marina shook her head as she approached Montley, and much to his surprise she pulled the slide back, loading a round and then forcefully put the gun in his hands and made him hold it against her temple.

"You wanna shoot me, SHOOT ME!!" screamed Marina, "But leave everyone else out of it, it's just between you and me."

Montley's hand shook, in fear, anger and rage, "I-I could you know, my friends dead because of you!!" Montley spat back, his threat a half-truth, half-lie.

Just then, "Put the gun down!!!" screamed Catherine's voice and Montley turned and saw Catherine kneeling next to the tree she was at, handgun drawn and aimed at him.

"Catherine, stay out of this!!" yelled Marina, she then looked back at Montley, "Do it!"

Meanwhile, the rest of the squad had come to investigate the gunshots heard earlier. The sight they saw shocked them. Friendly's aiming guns at each other. But none knew what the cause was.

At the same time, Captain Varrot and Welkin and the other's had come out of their hiding places and were now looking towards Marina and Montley.

And it seemed that Montley had finally realized what he had done and caused, so he slowly removed the barrel of the gun from Marina's head and dropped it to the ground. Dropping to his knees in disbelief at his own actions and at what he had almost done.

Captain Varrot looked to the rest of the squad, "Men, take Montley away, he's to be charged with discharging a firearm against friendly forces." ordered Varrot, and a few of the soldiers nodded and rushed towards Montley, grabbing an arm each, while a third drew their sidearm and aimed it at Montley as he was lead away.

Marina just stood where she was, breathing heavily.

Welkin and Varrot approached her, "Are you Alright??" asked Varrot.

Marina nodded, at the same time Audrey came crawling out from behind the Edelweiss, dazed and confused, "Marina, what'd you do that for??" asked Audrey, hand held against the side of her head.

"I can't believe what is happening today…" said Varrot.

"Ma'am, I think I should be taken away to, I have to face the punishment, for not only what I did to Ted and Nancy, but for assaulting Aika and Audrey as well." said Marina.

Captain Varrot sighed, placing her hand against her face, "Take Marina away as well, I'll have to figure out what to do with her later." said Varrot, she then turned to Welkin. "Send a team to investigate the house she was in, See if we can't lessen the punishment that can and will be dealt out later."

"Right, I'll see to it." said Welkin.

Meanwhile, Vyse quickly picked up Aika's sidearm pistol, then rushed behind the Edelweiss, just in time to see Aika just starting to come to, she was groaning in pain as she held the side of her head. "Oh…what happened??" asked Aika, attempting to sit up.

"Hey, remain still babe, everyone's alright, no body got shot thankfully." said Vyse, kneeling next to her.

Aika gasped and reached for her sidearm, but felt only an empty pouch, "My gun!, where is it!!" asked Aika.

"Relax, Marina took it, but didn't use it thankfully. I have it right here in fact." said Vyse, showing Aika her pistol, the safety engaged now and the rounds removed. Aika sighed in relief and took the gun from Vyse and put it back in it's proper pouch and snapped the button closed.

"Come on, I'll take you back to base." said Vyse, he then reached down and scooped up Aika in his arms and began to carry her, craddle in his arms back to base, Aika closing her eyes and resting her head against Vyse's chest as he carried her.


	40. Chapter 40

**Chapter 40- Farewells of all kinds**…

The entire squad was back at the main militia base, Base Amatairian of the Gallian militia forces. A few of the members injured in the fight back at Bruhl were being treated in the medical ward, Marina and Montley were locked up in separate cells in the stockades, and the rest were in the barracks, saying farewells, of sorts, to Vyse Inglebard. For he was both leaving and not leaving the squad.

With his promotion, came something he didn't expect, the barracks was for privates and new recruits, Corporals had the choice of staying in the barracks or moving to the officers barracks, a large building with large, private rooms for the officers. Vyse wasn't given the choice of staying, he had new duties he would have to attend to now and being inside of the officers barracks allowed him to be closer to these new duties.

Aika wanted to go with him, to the officers barracks, but Vyse made her stay, he wanted someone he knew to remain with the squad, to keep him informed of how things were going, and deliver whatever new news came up. And Aika, angry with Vyse for not letting her tag along, finally agreed to his decision. There would be a lot of new news coming up. News on Marina's investigation, as well as who all of the new recruits would be that would take the place of those lost or out of action for what could possibly be the rest of the war.

So there Vyse was, his bunk empty, his foot locker cleaned out and all of his belongings packed into a large duffel bag and two suitcases, his battle armour and machine gun packed into larger, black, locked suitcases. And with his new rank of sergeant attached to his uniform jacket he ordered Ramsey Clement and Rosina to help carry his stuff to the officers barracks, and they were waiting, by the door for him to finish up his good-byes.

The line was getting smaller, but there were still those left who had some things left to say.

"Vyse, you're the bravest man I know. I hope one day I can be as brave and selfless as you." said Alex, shaking Vyse's hand briskly while smiling at him. Vyse nodded and smiled, "I know you will, I'll make sure you get extra training knocked into your schedule."

Aisha was next, She ran up to Vyse and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him. "Mr. Inglebard, you've kept Aunty Cathy safe and always looked out for others. I'm glad you got promoted, but I'm gonna miss seeing you around the barracks." said Aisha, still holding onto Vyse.

Vyse smiled and patted the top of Aisha's head, "Relax Kiddo, I'm still gonna be fighting with you. We just won't see much of each other during free time… oh boy, free time, that's a word I'm not gonna have for much longer." said Vyse, that part making him regret being made an officer, but only slightly.

Aisha smiled once more, let go of Vyse and Karl, Lynn, Wavy and Nadine approached Vyse in a group.

"It's no surprise that you're an officer now, you've done much to deserve that rank. I think it suits you very well, I'll follow whatever order you give from this moment on." said Karl, shaking Vyse's hand

"A sergeant now huh, that's impressive that you've climbed the ranks so quickly for a foreign soldier. Just tell me what to do and I'll follow that order to the letter." said Lynn, bowing respectfully.

"Well… it certainly is something to see that someone so young is an officer and leader of someone like myself." said Wavy, scratching the back of his head. "But I'll follow ya kid, I'll gladly serve under you."

"Vyse… you deserve that new rank, in fact if you were made squad leader of squad 7, I would gladly follow you to whatever end this war brings. Win or lose, victory or death, I would of followed you… Vyse… my friend." said Nadine, tears building up into her eyes.

Vyse was starting to get a little teary eyed, "Hey, we'll still be fighting together, and we WILL win. I'll make sure that we win this war!!" , Nadine sighed both happy and sadly, stood up straight and saluted Vyse, Karl, Lynn and Wavy did the same. Vyse smiled happily and saluted everyone back.

And with the last of his close friends having said their good-byes, Vyse walked, duffel bag over one shoulder, Aika by his side, carrying one of his suitcases, towards the barracks door, Ramsey and Rosina in tow behind them, carrying the rest of his belongings. Near the door the entire squad began to clap and cheer for Vyse as he pushed his way through doors leading out into the rest of the base.

And as Vyse and Aika walked side by side, they remained silent for a few moments, neither could think of anything good to say. They knew that they would be separated even more now, they already were somewhat separated when Vyse was a corporal and Aika still a private. Aika finally broke the silence.

"So… you ready for this??" asked Aika, softly punching Vyse in the side of the arm.

"Yeah, guess so… looks like I'll be spending more time with Welkin and the other senior officers from now on. And you'll have the pleasure of hanging out with the young privates and new recruits. Treat them well, you'll be the one who has to show the new recruit's the ropes and welcome them."

"Yeah… don't remind me." said Aika, she then grabbed Vyse by the arm and stopped him, "Vyse!, I don't think I can do this. You were doing such a great job as corporal, I don't think I can be like you. You always know just what to say and how to say it, I'm gonna look terrible compared to you.", complained Aika as she patted her chest area where her new Corporal rank was attached.

"You'll do fine, you've been hanging around me since we were kids." said Vyse, rubbing the top of Aika's head with his hand, messing her hair up. "So you should know very well how I do things, just remember those days and what I did and you'll do just fine, Corporal Thompson."

Aika's cheeks puffed up in an angry manner, her eye brows furrowed in a glare and she flicked Vyse hard, in the forehead with her middle finger. "And since we've been hanging out since we were kids...YOU should know that I don't like it when you call me by my last name, It's either Aika or Babe, nothing else, got it!!" ordered Aika, Vyse chuckled and rubbed his forehead.

"Yes Babe!!" joked Vyse, saluting her before they continued on towards the Officers barracks.

A short while later, Vyse and Aika were inside Vyse's new room. It was indeed quite large, for it had a large single bed, a bathroom, complete with toilet, sink and tub with shower head attachment. A work desk with a rolling chair, lamp and lots of drawers, a large closet with a hanger bar and hangers, below, drawers for clothes, both civilian and uniform. And since he was on a higher floor, a large window with a blue, red and white overhanging curtain with blue blinds to close it. The view of the base below was an impressive one.

Aika dropped Vyse's suitcase and walked around the spacious room, Ramsey and Rosia put the suitcases down, saluted Vyse and left. Aika was spinning in circles, taking the whole room. "Wow… now I want to move into the officers barracks if you get all of this to yourself!!" complained Aika, "I'm still gonna have to sleep on those uncomfortable bunk beds with all the other young privates and recruits all around me, no private space or time to myself."

Vyse wasn't paying much attention as he walked around the room, looking all around it in awe. "…weird…" said Vyse, throwing his duffle bag onto the bed nearby.

"What was that?!?" asked Aika in a sharp tone, thinking he was complaining about her.

"Oh, nothing, just that this is SO different then what we've had for the last few months… kind of sad that I'm gonna be away from you all now." said Vyse, returning to Aika's side. "Come to think of it, we never did get to finish a single card game with Catherine O'Hara…. Sad…"

"Well maybe when she is feeling better we can do just that." offered Aika, she looked over to the large rectangular table nearby. "Looks like you have enough space to invite people inside every now and then."

Vyse smiled and grabbed Aika and pulled her close, much to her surprise. "Guess we can have some private time every now and then as well, no one else can come into this room unless I say so."

Aika blushed and looked away, "Oh Vyse… not now…" said Aika, her gaze then turned to the window and she saw something, or rather someone down below. So she softly pushed Vyse away and made her way over to the window, Vyse's figure appearing behind her as he looked over her head.

Aika squinted and tried to see who it was, "Is that… Catherine O'Hara??" asked Aika, the figure was walking to the gates leading out of the base.

"I think it is…" said Vyse, they could see that she had black dress pants on, a red leather jacket and a blue shirt on, not her uniform, she was also carrying a suitcase with her, not her sniper rifle case.

Vyse looked down at Aika, both had looks of worry on their face, Vyse offered his hand out to Aika. "Come on, let's go see what's up.", Aika nodded and took Vyse by the hand and together they ran as fast as they could, out of the officers barracks and towards the gates.

Meanwhile, Catherine O'Hara was showing her Military ID to the officer stationed behind the glass box at the front gates, he took it and examined it before offering it back. But Catherine held up her hand and shook her head, politely refusing it. "Oh, but you'll need this to get back in."

Catherine just smiled, "It's alright, I'm not coming back, so I no longer need it, it'll only remind me of this war. And I'm done with war, for the rest of my life." said Catherine, picking up her single suitcase and waiting for the officer to raise the gate. The officer just nodded and smiled, before pressing a red button and the black and yellow gate began to rise up and out of the way.

Just then, "Miss O'Hara!!" shouted Vyse, running and waving wildly at her, Aika doing the same

"Catherine!!" shouted Aika

Catherine shut her eyed and grimaced, "Damn… nearly got out without being seen… oh well." thought Catherine, she sighed and turned around. "Greetings Vyse, Aika…"

Vyse and Aika then stopped in front of Catherine, looking her up and down, she looked a lot different in civilian dress then in her uniform. "Catherine… what's going on??" asked Vyse

Catherine sighed once more, "The answer to that question should be quite obvious, I'm done." said Catherine, setting her bag down, "I've seen enough war to last me a lifetime, been fighting for more years then you know."

"But Catherine… we need you, you're the best sniper our squad's ever had." said Aika

"Oh, and how do you know that??" asked Catherine, "You've only ever had Myself or Marina as your snipers, I'm sure some younger, better shots then myself will come along and take my place."

"That's not the point… Catherine, you've become like a family member to us, everyone has. You can't leave us now, not when we need experienced soldiers more then ever." said Vyse, now starting to get upset.

It was clear that Catherine was as well, "Vyse!, I've only ever really been a soldier… the 1st war started up when I was about your age. I missed out on the best and most fruitful years of my life because I was fighting. So many of my friends died, even the man I loved and would of someday married…", Catherine thinking of Lance, "So much death…so much fighting… so much loss…", Catherine looked down at the G-shaped Pendant haing from her neck, a reminder of Ellen, another close friend from the 1st war she had recently lost.

"Can you really ask this old woman to continue fighting, to continue losing people close to her, to…", tears were forming in her eyes and she closed them and turned her head away, "Please… just let me go, I can't continue this conversation without breaking down and crying."

Aika walked over to Vyse and held onto him for comfort, "Alright… you've done more then what could be asked of a soldier. You've served your country well, leave the rest to us."

Vyse sighed and nodded, "We never got to finish our card game…" said Vyse, this caused some chuckles from Vyse, Aika and even Catherine.

"Perhaps that's for the best, I might of walked away a little richer if we did play." joked Catherine, dabbing the corners of her eyes with her finger tips, getting the tears away.

"We'll miss you Catherine O'Hara, you've been an excellent soldier to fight with. I'll never forget how you helped me when I went to look for Aika back at the Kloden Wildwoods, if you ever need anything, just ask. I owe you so much." said Vyse, resting his cheek on top of Aika's head.

Catherine nodded and reached into her pocket, pulling out the golden locket she gave Aika during the last mission. She then gave it back to Aika, "Aika, remember what I told you to do before, well… I want you to do it now. Give this to Aisha for me, I want her to have it." said Catherine.

Aika looked down at it, then back at Catherine, "But… what do you want me to tell her??"

Catherine sighed and looked off into the distance, "Just tell her that… Aunty Cathy isn't feeling very well, and that she needs to go on a holiday… a very very long holiday and that I don't think I shall return… infact I mean not to." instructed Catherine.

"I don't think she'll understand… she's very fond of you." said Vyse

"Aye… and me to her… She'd probably come with me if I asked… but she has her own family, friends who will keep her company. She'll be alright without her Aunty Cathy, I just need to get away… from the wars of man. Think I'll go to the mountains, lay down my rifle and live out my remaining years in peace… I do think I've earned it, have I not??"

Vyse and Aika nodded, "Yeah…" was all Vyse could say

"Farewell Catherine… take care, and we'll see to it that this war is quickly ended." said Aika

"Hey, when we have young leaders like Sgt. Vyse Inglebard, I know that I'm leaving the squad in good hands. Take care, and don't let this old lady down, I'm counting on you to win this war… for me." said Catherine, picking up her bag and walking down the dirt road, back to Randgriz. But after afew steps she turned around and smiled. "Otherwise… I'll come back from wherever I am and give you're a good, swift kick in the arse!!"

Vyse and Aika laughed loudly and waved good-bye, Catherine grinned, turned and walked off into the distance, forever leaving her life as a soldier behind. She was one of the oldest soldiers in squad 7 and had definitely earned her retirement.

Vyse and Aika remained where they were, both were too sad to move. They had just lost a good friend and squad mate. But they had little time to be sad, for a blue and white jeep pulled up to them. "Sgt. Inglebard??" asked a female officer.

"Yeah, that's me." said Vyse

"Come with me, Lieutenant Welkin Gunther has requested your presence at the command building." said the officer.

Vyse nodded, and turned to Aika, "You gonna be alright on your own??" asked Vyse. Aika nodded.

"Yeah, I've got something that I need to see to." said Aika, looking down at the locket in her hands. "Don't worry about me, I'm a corporal now, I have to be strong."

"Alright, catch ya later babe." said Vyse, he then climbed into the passenger side seat and the jeep took off, back to the main, command building. While Aika made her way back to the barracks.

Soon Vyse was in the corridors of the main command building, making his way towards Welkin Gunther's office. But just as he arrived, and placed his hand on the doorknob, he saw Juno Coren speed walking down the hall, she looked extremely upset and emotional.

"Juno… what's wro-" started Vyse, but Juno moved Vyse away from the door.

"Vyse… p-please, l-l-let me speak to Welkin first, I n-need to tell him something." said Juno, her voice cracking and sounding very sad. Vyse was worried, but he just nodded, giving his approval. "Thanks…"

And with that Juno knocked on the door as Vyse moved aside, "Come in!" said Welkin's voice on the other side of the door. Juno breathed in deep, trying to calm herself then entered.

"Oh… Juno, I was expecting it to be Vyse Inglebard." said Welkin as Juno walked up to his desk.

"He's outside, but there is something I have to say." said Juno.

Welkin sighed, then leaned back in his chair, "Go ahead, I'm listening."

"Welkin I-" started Juno, her heart beating furiously, "I want out… out of the fighting, out of the militia."

Welkin sighed, "Juno, you know I can't do that, your not injured, your able to fight and we need all the able bodied soldiers we can get at this point in the war. So I'm gonna have to say no, we need you here."

Juno sighed, "Do you think it's easy for me to ask this of you, well it's not, infact I've never done anything quite so hard."

"You still feel responsible for what happened to Ted and Nancy??" asked Welkin, the tears falling from Juno's eyes moments later answered his question.

"It was my fault Welkin!!" cried Juno, placing her hands on top of his desk and leaning in towards him, "They were part of my squad, I was the leader, and I let them go, I let them die!!"

"From what you told me before, Ted took off on you and so did Nancy, they left the squad on their own accord, not on your orders." explained Welkin, hands still folded in his lap.

"But…I could of stopped them, I should have stopped them, I was the leader and I did nothing to stop them or prevent them from going."

"I don't think there was anything you could of done, less then pointing a gun at Ted. He was close to Marina, the only one who ever was or even has been able to. A friend of his was in danger and he went to go help, there was nothing you or even I could have done to stop him, or stop Nancy, Ted's good friend, from tagging along. Rank means nothing when a friends life is in danger you know."

Despite all the advice given, Juno moved away from Welkin's desk, grabbed her squad 7 patch attached to her jacket and tore it off, then dropping it on top of Welkin's desk, it floated down and rested on his desk, just in front of him.

"I'm sorry Welkin, but I cannot stay, I cannot fight, I'm done…" said Juno, she lowered her head sadly. Welkin meanwhile was opening the top drawer to his desk and pulling out a clip board.

He put a pen to the clipboard and scrolled down for a second,

"**Marina Wulfstan: banned from active service, currently in the stockades, awaiting trial and punishment for the deaths of two squad mates.**

**Montley Leonard: banned from active service, currently in the stockades, awaiting trial and punishment for discharging a firearm against friendly forces and endangering the squad.**

**Nancy Dufour: Killed in Action, cause of death still under investigation.**

**Ted Ustinov: Killed in Action, cause of death still under investigation.**

**Theold Bore: Injured beyond recovery, service days as a lancer finished.**

**Catherine O'Hara: Duty as a soldier successfully fulfilled following the liberation of Bruhl, permission for retirement granted**." read Welkin as he read the list aloud, Juno's expression turned to shame as she continued to look down at the top of Welkin's desk sadly.

"The squad has taken a serious blow after Bruhl, we've lost a great many good and veteran soldiers recently. So Juno… I need you here, I need you to stay." said Welkin, setting down the clipboard and pushing his chair away from the table, he then walked around the desk and stood in front of Juno. A second later he pulled her in close and hugged her.

"Please Juno… stay here… with me." said Welkin.

Juno's heart beat quicker for a moment, but a memory flashed back to her and she remembered what she saw at the Marberry shore, during the Feast of all Spirits. She remembered seeing Alicia give Welkin a rare gift and hearing her say she hoped things would work out for her and Welkin, possibly as a couple.

Juno shook her head and placed her hand on Welkin's chest, in an attempt to push him away, but he resisted. "Welkin… your not hearing me, I need out…"

"Juno, I am hearing you, but the squad needs leaders and experienced soldiers like you." said Welkin

Now angered, Juno grabbed Welkin tightly by the front of his uniform and forced him backwards until he hit a medal display case, breaking the glass but not shattering it all over the place. "Damn it Welkin!!" screeched Juno, tears of anger forming in her eyes once again, "I CAN'T DO IT!!, I CAN'T PERFORM MY DUTY!!", her fist was shaking in anger as she held a tight grip around Welkin's uniform.

Realizing what she had done, not only to a superior officer, but a close friend, she released him and stepped back, "Please Welkin, if I'm truly as precious as you say I am to you, both as a friend and squadmate…then please respect my wishes. I am no longer fit to lead the men and women of squad 7 and wish to leave…"

Welkin was surprised by Juno's burst of anger, he then sighed, "Very well… I'll start on the paper work to have you transferred out of squad 7." said Welkin in defeat.

Juno was relieved, but ashamed at the same time, "I'm sorry Welkin, but this is for the best." said Juno, she then looked down.

"I have one more thing to ask…" said Juno

"Alright…anything." replied Welkin, but rather then a question, he saw Juno raise her head, eyes closed, cheeks rosy from blushing. She then ever so slowly began to move towards him, and he knew what she wanted. This being the last time they'd be together, alone, he himself then closed his eyes and let her close the distance and their lips pressed together, their first kiss.

A few seconds later they moved part, Juno lowered her head once again and sighed, she then began to back up towards the door. "You know Welkin, I always thought that you and I… you and I might…" said Juno, unable to finish, she turned and left Welkin's office in a hurry, running past Vyse and down the hall, disappearing around the corner a second later.

Vyse, had heard everything and was unsure if he wanted to bother Welkin, but remembered that it wasn't a social visit, he was ordered to report to Welkin. So he entered the open doorway and knocked, Welkin turned to him and smiled a little.

"Hello Vyse, I see that you got my message." said Welkin, returning to his position behind the desk.

Vyse walked up to the desk and saluted Welkin, Welkin just remained seating and returned the salute. "Vyse Inglebard, reporting as ordered!!"

"At ease…" said Welkin in a rather plain tone, and Vyse assumed the said position of at ease.

"I called you here today, because we've learned that there are a group of Imperials, performing Darcsen 'hunts'. This task was assigned to another squad, but Rosie asked for it to be given to us, naturally I and the other senior officers agreed." explained Welkin.

"Sir, I also agree, Darcsen should not be hunted as if they are no less then animals for sport. If I may say so the very idea disgusts me!!" said Vyse, now angry.

"It seems that they're trying to round up more Darcsen to take back to Fouzen as well… Let's see to it that they don't make it there!!" said Welkin, now seemingly confident once again.

"Sir yes sir!!" said Vyse, still shaking from the idea of Darcsen being hunted.

"Another thing, Juno and a large number of our squad mates have either been injured, removed from active service or…" said Welkin, Vyse held up his hand, stopping Welkin. He knew what he was gonna say, about the others being killed in action.

Welkin nodded, and sadly reached forward and retrieved Juno's squad 7 patch, "Your going to be in charge of 1st squad, the one Juno was in charge of. Sadly she has recently be relieved of duty. So pick your 8 member team before we set out. Be sure to balance scout, shock trooper, lancer and engineer respectfully, don't want to have more then the other or not at all."

Vyse nodded, "Will that be all sir??" asked Vyse, Welkin just leaned back in his chair and nodded.

"Yes, you may leave." said Welkin, Vyse saluted Welkin once more, then departed.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the base, Aika was sitting on Aisha's bunk, she had given the locket to Aisha and told her what Catherine wanted her to say, but she was still staring down at it, as she was for the last 5 minutes. She then looked up at Aika with sad eyes.

"Why… why did Auntie Cathy leave so suddenly??" asked Aisha, afew of the other squad mates looked on in worry and sadness.

"I don't know Aisha, but she's done her part in this war." said Aika, wrapping her arm around Aisha. "She's one of the oldest soldiers in the squad, and has served in both wars. Don't you think she's done enough??"

"B-but what about me, why did she leave me without saying good-bye…" asked Aisha, starting to cry.

"Perhaps it would have been too hard on her, perhaps she left so suddenly because we all would of tried very hard to stop her if she told us she was leaving." said Aika, only guesses.

Aisha suddenly became angry and forcefully grabbed Aika's hand, placing the locket into her open palm. "I don't want it!!" cried Aisha, putting on a sad, angry pout, "If she isn't brave enough to give it to me herself, then I don't want it. She didn't even say good-bye!!"

Aisha tried getting up but Aika held onto her wrist. "Aisha, don't you think your being too hard on her. She's been through a lot in her lifetime. And I know she'd be really sad if she saw you refuse such a precious gift and act like this."

"I don't care, I hate her!!" cried Aisha, trying to pull away from Aika, actually leaning forward to get more grip and pull. "I don't ever wanna see her again, she's just a big scaredy cat to me now, she's not my auntie Cathy anymore!!"

"Aisha please…this means a lot to her." said Aika, one hand holding Aisha, the other Catherine's locket.

Aisha looked back at Aika as she continued to try and pull away from her. The look in her eyes was a scary one, even for someone so young. "If you don't let go… then I'm gonna start hating you too!!" warned Aisha.

Aika sighed in defeat and released her grip from Aisha, once she was free, she ran to the bathrooms. Seconds later loud, angry sobs could be heard coming from the bathrooms. The squad had lost alot of good members, some to death, some to imprisonment and other's unfit for service. But they would have to overcome such hardships to continue fighting the good fight.


	41. Chapter 41

**_Hey Readers, Yes, this is a short, kind of hastily written chapter. But I've been having the WORST case of writers block for both my stories and this is what I could come up with. Just a filler for the most parts, but shows the newest recruits who are taking the places of those lost at Bruhl. And yeah, I know I went over the 20 squad member limit, but the manga had ALL the members of squad 7 in it at one time and I looked at the entire squad members name list and realized there weren't that many left so figured, I've nearly gone through everyone so just use up who's left mostly. I also realized how mean I've been, the only ones really being killed or not had much luck were the scouts, lots of them died compared to any other unit...I'm so mean...anyways, enojoy this little filler, the next one will be better written, I hope. _**

**_Read and Review please, could use some ideas for the Darcsen hunt chapter that's coming up next and how it could go...so many ways that could go. Lot's of potental for bad stuff to happen..._**

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**Chapter 41- Vyse's squad is born**

Aika Thompson stood with her hands behind her back, feet shoulder width apart, the military position of at ease, the rest of the squad formed up behind her in at ease position as well. She nervously waited, her eyes glancing over at the clock, it was nearing noon and from previous orders, she was expecting the arrival of the newest recruits who would be joining Squad 7, the Bruhl mission saw a lot of the veteran members of Squad 7 either killed, injured or relieved of active service.

Soon Aika saw Captain Varrot through one of the barracks windows, making her way towards the barracks, some figures were following behind her, so Aika turned to the squad and came to the position of attention.

"Squad, Atten-tion!!": she yelled in a rather impressive and proper military tone, the entire squad stomping their right foot hard against the ground as they came to the position of attention, Aika then turned on her heels until she was facing forwards again.

Captain Varrot then pushed her way through the double doors of the barracks, following behind her were 10 new replacement soldiers, this put the squad soldier count at near 30, but since Squad 7 very recently lost 6 very good, and very experienced veteran soldiers, this new number was needed to make up for that loss with numbers.

"Salute!" shouted Aika and everyone from current squad 7 raised their right hand and held it up to their brow in a respectful salute, both to Captain Varrot and the new replacements.

"Good afternoon soldiers," said Captain Varrot, "I present to you, the newest replacements that will be added to your squad roster. Treat them well, they'll be fighting with you from this moment on. That is all.", and with that Captain Varrot turned on her heels and left the barracks, the 10 new replacements still standing with their weapons and duffle bags in hand.

Yet Aika remained where she was, still at attention.

"Psstt…Aika!!" whispered Nadine, Aika looked back and Nadine was gesturing with her head towards the new replacements.

"Oh right!!" said Aika, completely forgetting that it was up to her to give the welcoming speech to the new replacements, just one of her duties as Corporal.

"Greetings, my name is Corporal Aika Thompson, but you can just call me Aika from here on out," said Aika. "I'll be taking roll call first and adding your names and class to the roster, got it??"

"Ma'am!!" said the replacements in unison

Aika then walked over to a nearby table and picked up the squad roster/roll call clipboard, scrolling down the list until she came up to an empty box, she then walked over to the 1st recruit in-line, the scouts were first.

"Name??" asked Aika

"The name's Freesia York, we served together in Barious remember??" said Freesia, smiling and saluting.

"Oh right, glad to have you with us." said Aika, writing Freesia's name in the empty box for the squad roster. She then moved on to the next person.

"Name?" asked Aika, looking at another pretty looking female.

"Oh my… could it really be!!" said Cherry from behind Aika, "I think it is."

"Haha, glad to see I have a fan amongst you, name's Ramona Linton," said Ramona, giving a respectful salute, "Maybe you've heard of me??"

Aika tilted her head, and began tapping the pen in her hand against her chin, thinking hard. "Mmm…no, can't say I have."

"That's Ramona, THE Ramona, a famous model from "Gallian Girl" magazine," said Cherry, "I'm a huge fan!!"

"Right, good to have you with us, look forward to working with you," said Aika, she added her name to the squad roster.

Aika walked to the next person in-line, this person winked at Aika and grinned, confusing Aika.

"Uhh…name??" asked Aika

"How's it going?, the name's Hermes Kissinger," said Hermes, giving a salute and smiling at Aika, "Very happy to be serving under such a pretty young officer like yourself."

Aika blushed and quickly wrote his name down, "Oh uh…thanks, next!!" and Aika quickly walked to the next person, Shock troopers were next.

Aika walked up to a male shock trooper, whose hair was a similar shade to her own. "Name?"

"Salinas Milton, At your service" said Salinas, smiling and saluting

Aika wrote his name in the shock troopers list and moved on, to a tough looking female shock trooper.

"Name?"

"Nina Streiss, looking forward to a good workout. Looks like you could add some muscle to that frame of yours, looking for a workout partner??"

"Oh…that's alright" said Aika, quickly writing her name down and moving on. But the next person she came up to needed no introduction.

"Jane Turner!!, So happy to be with you once again, I hear your squad's killed more Imperials then any other, so here I am. I'll do anything if it means putting holes in Imps!!" said Jane, grinning evilly and saluting as well.

And from the back of current squad 7, "*gasp* OH NO!!" exclaimed Susie Evans, Jane's eyes looked past Aika and spotted Susie, visibly trembling.

"Well…nice to see you too once again." said Jane, winking and grinning at Susie

"Right…you two get along, alright" said Aika, writing Jane's name down and moving on to the lancers.

The first person she came up to was an older female lancer, with a blue headscarf on her head. She gave off both an older sister and a motherly type feel when Aika approached her. "Name??"

"Yoko Martens, glad to see such a young female officer is in charge here. If you ever need anything, just ask" said Yoko, shifting her mighty lance from her right hand to her left and giving a salute.

Aika smiled brightly, wrote her name down and moved on, to a very large male lancer, with a white headband around his forehead. "Name??"

"Hector Calvey, I'll do my very best to become a part of the team," said Hector, saluting as well.

"That's always good to hear, welcome to the squad," said Aika, writing his name down and moving on to the last 2 recruits, the one's who would fill in the currently empty sniper's boxes on the roster.

Aika walked up to the two and they both had brown hair, freckles and looked pretty similar in most aspects. "Name??"

At the same time, both of the snipers came to attention and gave a salute at the exact same moment

"Oscar Bielert" said one, "Emile Bielert" said the other, "at your command!!" said the two in unison.

Aika looked at one, then the other, "You two are brothers??" asked Aika, looking down at her clipboard, just about to write their names down before Oscar looked at Emile and Emile looked at Oscar, both scoffed at the same time, "No…" said Oscar, Emile rolled his eyes and smiled.

Aika looked up from her clipboard at the two and tilted her head, looking extremely confused.

"YES!!" said the two brothers said in unison, laughing and giving each other a high five and a slap on the back.

"Oh, every time, we get them every time Emile!!" Oscar laughed, holding his stomach from laughing so hard

"I know bro, but it never gets old," added Emile, he too was laughing pretty hard.

Aika couldn't help but grin and chuckle as she wrote down both of their names, finishing adding the newest replacements to the squad. "Good one guys, totally got me," said Aika.

Aika turned back and looked towards Nadine, "Nadine, would you gather up the replacement troops folders and take them to Vyse's office for me??"

"Sure thing" said Nadine, taking the roster from Aika once she removed it from the clipboard, then walking up to each replacement soldier and taking their personal info folder from them until she was at the end of the line, she then departed the barracks and headed for the officer's barracks.

Aika turned to the replacements, "Alright, welcome to squad 7, your new unit and family," said Aika, the current members of squad 7 began to clap and cheer, warmly welcoming the newest soldiers to the squad.

"Feel free to make yourselves at home," said Aika, gesturing to both the rest of the squad and the entire barracks.

Everyone nodded and moved forward, some began to shake the current members hands, others moved to pick a bunk. Jane tried to shake Susie Evans hand, but she turned and ran, so Jane began to chase Susie Evans all around the barracks.

"Hey, come on come on, I just wanna talk to you," Jane chuckled evilly, hot on Susie's tail.

"NOO~~!!" cried Susie as she ran for her life all over the barracks. Members from both new and old Squad 7 laughed as they watched the chase.

Meanwhile, in the officers barracks, Nadine had just dropped off the replacements folders and the newest squad roster.

Vyse thanked her and she bowed politely before leaving his room. Vyse added the newest replacements folders into the already large pile of current squad 7 members. He then started going through the personal profiles of the squad members, something he was now allowed access to, given his new Sergeant rank. He was doing so to better know his squad mates, for he had to choose 8 members for his newly assigned squad.

Vyse first picked up the pile of scouts profiles among squad 7, each had a profile page with a black and white photo of the soldier attached with a paper clip. Vyse shuffled through the pile until he found who he was looking for.

"Ah…Aika Thompson, she'd kill me if I didn't let her in my squad. And there's no one I'd trust more then her to fight along side." said Vyse, and he set her folder aside and continued to shuffle through the pile.

"Susie Evans…don't think she'd be right for my squad. If memory recalls she's a pacifist and I need to be able to count on my squad mates to fight when the time comes." thought Vyse, he moved to the next folder.

"Hmm…Ramona Linton, a replacement," thought Vyse, he reviewed her info and she passed scout training at the top of her class and received a lot of praise from her instructors. "But…she's a little too green for my squad…sorry girl" and he moved to the next one.

"Ah Wavy, a good man, fighting for a good cause, also been with us for a long time. He'll do." thought Vyse and he set his folder on top of Aika's

He then started looking for Shock troopers, he himself being on he only need to choose two other's, his first pick was Alex Raymond, someone he had gotten close with since he joined. His next choice would be a tough one. He had the option of; Lynn, Edy Nelson, Jane Turner, Aisha Neumann, Wendy Cheslock, Salinas Milton and Nina Streiss.

But Shock troopers being the backbone of any squad he wanted someone with experience, so that ruled out any of the new replacements, for lack of experience. Edy Nelson was rumoured to be in charge of her own squad, that ruled her out. Both Jane Turner and Wendy Cheslock seemed to enjoy killing and blowing stuff up too much, so that ruled them out. Aisha was a good girl, but Vyse thought her to be a bit too young to be amongst his tough fighting squad. That left the most logical choice to be Lynn, he only hoped she didn't mind being away from Karl for most battles, but she had fought and survived in every single engagement the 7's had been in since they were formed, not to mention she was a very hard worker and completely loyal. So he set her folder aside.

Next up were the lancers and he would need two, but as he looked through the lancers profiles he was almost at a loss. He knew that Audrey wouldn't want to join, she joined the entire militia just to be on Welkin's squad 7, so Vyse didn't want her to have to part with following Welkin's orders. Elysse Moore was…strange, and somewhat lazy it seemed, not to mention it took her halfway through a battle to finally get warmed up and ready. And there was no way he was asking Rosina to join, she was Darcsen hater born and true, and Vyse had already chosen 2 of his good Darcsen friends to be on his squad. Theold was gone, due to injury and Vyse didn't have it in him to ask Jann Walker to have to leave Largo's side during battle, he seemed to admire Largo quite a bit. And Largo was a no brainer, he was the same rank as Vyse, and already had a squad to lead in battle.

"Guess I'll have to take two of the replacements for my squad." thought Vyse, he saw the two names, Hector Calvey and Yoko Marten. Having no other choice he accepted both for his squad.

"Alright, just need an engineer and a sniper" thought Vyse, the engineer was another obvious choice. And he immediately picked Nadine's folder and without having to look, put it in his squad's pile.

The sniper's choice was a little tougher, the two were brothers, both were very good shots, but he ended up choosing Oscar, after reading about Emile's condition. It hurt him to do so, but he needed everyone to be in top form. And with that, Vyse's own squad was ready for battle.


	42. Chapter 42

**Greetings readers, yeah I'm back... I have no real good excuse for my recent lack of chapters. Haha, infact, my only excuse is that... There's FAR too many good games coming out for PS3 and Xbox 360, I have both systems and have spent alot of time playing these new games instead of writing. I'll try to spend more time writing now, so look forward to more updates more regularly. So here's the newest chapter for Adventures in War. Read+Review please.**

**Warning: This one is alittle disturbing**

**Chapter 42- Breaking point**

Vyse was sitting next to Aika during the squad meeting for the upcoming mission, to stop a group of Imperials committing a terrible crime, known as Darcsen hunting. Darcsen people were either being hunted and killed for sport, or being rounded up as prisoners to be used as forced labourers for the Imperial army.

As Welkin was going through the details of the mission with Alicia by his side, a large overhead map of the area with recon photos pinned around the board was between them. But as Vyse listened, his eyes kept on drifting over to Nadine, who was sitting with Karl, Lynn and Wavy across the room from where he and Aika were sitting.

Nadine had her left hand up near her mouth and she was chewing nervously on a bit of her glove on her index finger, her right hand was continuously tapping against either her right leg, against the chair or against the nearby wall next to her, though no one seemed to pay any mind to it. She was constantly shutting her eyes tight, and chewing on the bit of leather from her glove, something was obviously wrong.

At the end of the meeting, Nadine quickly left the tent and began to walk away, but not before Vyse stopped her just outside.

"Yo Nadine, something wrong, you looked a little bit distracted during the briefing" Vyse said, Nadine kept her back to him.

"Did I… sorry about that, it's nothing to worry about" Nadine replied, "I guess being Darcsen makes this mission strike that much closer to home for me and the other Darcsen members in squad 7… it's hard to believe that people could do such a terrible thing to my people."

"I see… makes sense" Vyse said, looking off to the side sadly, "If you ever need someone to talk to, just let me know, I'll always be around if you need a listening ear."

"Thanks Vyse, I'll be fine, don't worry about me" Nadine replied, turning to finally face Vyse and give him a thankful smile.

But as soon as she did, Vyse noticed that her face was quite pale, nearly drained of all color, there were also some beads of sweat along her forehead, brow and under her nose. It struck him as odd because the weather wasn't particularly that warm that day, quite cool in fact. Also the room they were just in for the briefing wasn't that hot.

"You sure you're alright… you look a little pale" Vyse said worriedly, "I think you should have Fina the medic check you out, I need all my squad mates to be ready for tomorrow's mission."

Nadine seemed to get a little agitated by that request, "Is that an order… sir?!"

Vyse was surprised by her angry tone, but never showed it. He just took another step towards her, never breaking eye contact. "If it has to be… then yes"

Nadine closed her eyes and sighed deeply, "Sorry… you're right, guess I am a little bit stressed out. Maybe I should go lay down for a bit instead, is that alright??"

"Yes, do what you need to do to feel better" said Vyse, walking up to Nadine and putting his hand on her shoulder, patting her twice before stepping back.

Nadine smiled and gave Vyse a respectful salute, "Yes sir" and with that Nadine turned and walked away, Vyse watching her the whole time until she turned the corner of a nearby building.

"Poor girl… she's been through so much. I hope she still has it in her to keep on fighting this war. If not then…" thought Vyse, not even wanting to finish that though, he turned and went to find Aika once more.

***

Nadine carefully peered around the corner of the building she had just passed, watching Vyse walk away, she waited until he was out of sight, before moving to a nearby pile of wooden box crates and pallets and crouched down behind them.

"Thank goodness… that was close" thought Nadine, hand against her pounding chest

She then reached with a trembling hand to the white and red medical pouch she carried on her belt and retrieved one of the 3 stacked Ragnaid capsules inside. She raised it up to her sweaty, pale face and looked at the clear dome.

"Whatever I need to do to get better…" Nadine thought, replaying Vyse's words in her head, "This doesn't go against what he advised me to do… so it's not like I'm disobeying him."

And with that, Nadine removed her glove from her right hand and turned the dial. Soon she felt that warm, soothing glow of ragnaid wash over her as the dome began to glow and the blue light covered her. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply before exhaling slowly, taking in every bit of the ragnaid capsule's contents. The ragnaid helped wash away all her stress, anxiety and cease her trembling body.

Once the glowing from the capsule stopped and the light faded, Nadine leaned against the box close to her and rested her head against it, sighing long and deep in pleasure. The color in her face had returned, her previous jitters and shakes, anxiety and sweating disappeared once more, or at least until she would need another fix. She had recently become dependant on Ragnaid to keep her calm and steady. For all the stress of the events she had been through and all the things she had seen had brought her close to the breaking point, both mentally and physically. Also, because she was an engineer she had access to a constant flow of ragnaid that she needed to have with her at all times, one of her duties as an engineer. So she would never be without a fix if she needed it.

Just then, "My my, what a surprise" said a male voice in a somewhat pleased manner.

"My, how the mighty have fallen." a female voice said next.

Nadine gasped, turned and saw Cezary Regard standing with his back against one of the crates, a flask in hand and Rosina sitting on a crate just in front of him. Both were grinning at Nadine.

"How long have you been here??" Nadine asked, a sweat starting to form on her brow as she shook in fear, she had been caught using Ragnaid as it was not meant to be used.

Cezary took a swig from the silver flask and passed it to Rosina, "We've been here the entire time, though you looked completely out of it when you arrived."

Rosina took a swig and lowered the flask, wiping her mouth with the back of her uniform sleeve. "Excessive sweating, shakes and jitters, loss of concentration, pale face… yep, the dark-hair is definitely addicted to ragnaid."

Nadine sighed in defeat, "So, are you going to tell the Lieutenant now??"

Cezary grinned and shook his head, "Nah, knowing that a dark-hair, who's always so high and mighty and thinks she's better then everyone else turning out to be a ragnaid addict is far too good to pass up. Things have just started to get interesting, why let it end now??"

"Yeah, let's see where this goes and we won't tell the commander if you don't." said Rosina, taking another swig from the silver flask. And with that Rosina jumped off the box and began to leave, Cezary following right behind her, but he stopped as soon as he got to Nadine who was still kneeling on the ground, leaning against one of the boxes while looking down at the ground sadly.

"Hehe, you have no idea how good this makes me feel to catch ya red handed, abusing ragnaid. Always knew your kind was weak, you just helped me prove it." and as Cezary left the area he stepped on the ragnaid capsule that was laying on the ground, crushing it under his boot and continuing on.

Not far away, Vyse had finally reunited with his best friend Aika. She could see that he had a look of concern on his face, as if something was weighing heavily on his mind.

"Yo Vyse…what's up babe??" She asked, holding onto one of his hands and bending her head down, trying to look into his eyes.

"What… oh, nothing really," Vyse replied, "Just a little worried about-"

"HEY!!" a cheerful woman's voice interrupted, causing both Aika and Vyse to jump in surprise. They then looked towards the voice just in time to see a young woman snap a picture with a camera, not even asking permission to do so.

"Yes??" asked Aika, the woman was dressed in a clean white shirt, a pair of dark green pants and matching socks and hat which were plaid like in color. She also had a stunning pair of blue eyes, with silver circular glasses in front of them. She was also very pretty, as Vyse noted to himself. Though, he'd never say that in front of Aika. She'd either hit him or worse if he did.

"You two wouldn't happen to be the two foreign soldiers I've been hearing about" the lady asked, lowering the camera and raising up a note pad to recall information, "A mister…Byse Inglebird, and a miss Erika Tomlinson?"

Aika and Vyse looked at each other and grinned, "No…but I'm Vyse Inglebard" Said Vyse, he then patting Aika on the shoulder. "And this is my best friend, Aika Thompson"

"Haha, sorry, guess I misheard the other's I've already interviewed. And there are a lot of other's who've constantly been praising both your names." said the kind land, smiling as she tapped a pencil against her notepad.

"That's nice to hear… If I may ask, who might you be??" Aika asked

"Oh, where are my manners, the name's Ellet, I'm a reporter from GBS radio." said Ellet, she then chuckled to herself, "The best and top female reporter I might add"

"Oh a reporter" said Vyse

"Yes, I'm a reporter and I'm here to interview the two of… think I'll start with the handsome young man here." said Ellet, bumping her way past Aika and getting up close, nearly nose to nose with Vyse.

"So, word has it that you are not from Gallia… not even from Europa I might add. That's fascinating!!" said Ellet, "This'll make for a terrific story, two young and daring foreign adventurers arriving in Gallian to save it from the evil Empire. Oh I think I'll get an award for this one!!"

"Well… we're not there yet but-" started Vyse

"I know that, I'm just thinking out loud. But you must be one heck of a soldier, if your already a sergeant." said Ellet, tapping the eraser of her pencil against Vyse's sergeant patch on his upper chest, near the shoulder of his uniform jacket.

"Well I guess but-" started Vyse, but one again he never even got to finish his sentence.

"Of course you are!!" shouted Ellet, "I've heard so many stories about you, all from your fellow squad members, and they all told me that you were the one to interview."

"Oh, that's flattering but-"

"Anyways!!" interrupted Ellet once again, this time looking down at her notepad, pencil at the ready. "So tell me about yourself, favourite hobbies, foods…. Oh no, where are you from?, why'd you come to Gallia?, what made you want to fight for Gallia?, what do you plan to do after the war?, do you intend to stay here in Gallia??", she fired out those questions so fast Vyse barely had time to even open his mouth to answer before the next question was asked.

"Hey!!" Aika interrupted hands high on her hips in a displeased manner, eyebrows furrowed. "Give the guy a break, he's a squad leader now," Aika grabbed Vyse by the arm and began to drag him away. "He doesn't have time to answer your questions; we have an operation to attend to tomorrow."

Ellet grinned even wider, "Excellent, I'm tagging along then!!" she shouted to them.

"What! But it's going to be dangerous you can't just-" Vyse started

"Relax; I'm no stranger to danger." Ellet reassured with a wave of her hand, "Besides, scoops are near danger, and I'm near scoops. This'll be my chance to see the legendary Vyse Inglebard in action and I don't intend on missing one moment of it!!"

Aika and Vyse then rounded the corner of a nearby building, Aika releasing her grip from Vyse and holding her hand against her forehead, sighing deeply.

"Phew…thanks Aika, baby…not sure how much more of that I could take," said Vyse

"Yeah, I know what you mean." said Aika, "She's….enthusiastic I'll give her that. But be careful what you say around her, you know we can't talk too much about where we're from."

"Relax, I wouldn't say anything to her, you know that," said Vyse.

"I know babe" Aika replied, "Funny thing how she said that she came to interview US… but went straight for you."

Vyse chuckled, "Were you jealous baby?"

Aika chuckled as well, "Haha…maybe a little"

"Well come on, we have to prepare for tomorrow" said Vyse, and he lead Aika back to the squad barracks, to rest up and prepare for tomorrows mission.

* * *

The Next day squad 7 set out to the location of where Darcsen hunts were being commenced, The Edelweiss lead the way, three troop transports following and the Shamrock bring up the rear. Vyse was sitting with Aika by his side in one of the trucks as it bounced along. Nadine was sitting at the back of the truck, beside the tailgate. And yet again Vyse noticed that she was sweating profusely, chewing on her glove and shutting her eyes tight every now and then, she also looked quite anxious. Vyse was worried, but mistook her composure for being nervous about the upcoming mission.

About an hour later the truck stopped and Nadine immediately hopped out and disappeared around the corner of the truck, Vyse moved past some other squad members in an attempt to get out of the truck a bit faster, to catch up with Nadine. But Aika grabbed him by the sleeve when he accidentally knocked Aisha over.

"Yo Vyse, what's the hurry??" Aika asked, letting go of his sleeve and helping Aisha up.

Vyse apologized to Aisha and patted her on the head before turning to Aika, "Just worried about Nadine is all, she seems differently lately, haven't you noticed??"

"Now that you mention it, she does seem to be a little bit different. But you have to remember, she lost Isara, her best friend not too long ago." said Aika, softly squeezing Vyse's arm, "If I ever lost you, my… Best friend, I know it would forever change me as well. I wouldn't know what to do…"

Vyse nodded his head and pulled Aika close to him, hugging her. "Don't worry Baby, you'll never lose me. I promise". And Aika smiled once more, she knew he always kept good on his promises.

Vyse and Aika then hopped out of the truck and began to head towards Welkin's tank. But as they walked Vyse noticed Nadine coming out of some nearby bushes, breathing in and out quite deeply.

Vyse waved and caught her attention; she waved back and ran to catch up to Vyse and Aika.

"Hey Nadine, what were you doing in there??" asked Aika

Nadine rubbed the back of her head and chuckled, "Sorry… call of nature"

Vyse's mouth opened up in a perfect O shape and he nodded his head "Oh… I see" said Vyse.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, "Hey you two!!" shouted Ellet, popping up in front of Aika, Vyse and Nadine. All three screamed in surprise. Aika nearly lowering her rifle barrel in front of Ellet's face before Vyse grabbed it and stopped her.

"Oh!!…Don't do that, especially not when I have a gun in my hands!!" Aika screamed.

"Hehe, sorry, just thought I'd say 'good luck' and remember, I'll be watching every moment of the battle from atop the Edelweiss!!" Ellet replied happily before taking off towards the Edelweiss, where the rest of the squad was gathering.

The three friends chuckled and continued on towards Welkin's tank, where the rest of the squad was gathering, Welkin had half of his body sticking out of the turret, hand against one ear of his headset. Once everyone arrived, Welkin looked around at all of his soldiers; Rosie amongst all of them had the most determined look in her eyes. And he knew she was going to fight harder then she ever did for Isara, to stop these so called hunters from harming anymore Darcsen. And this brought a smile to Welkin's face as he nodded to her. His focus then went back to the rest of his squad.

"Alright, Alicia, Freesia and a few others have gone ahead and are tracking the convoy" Welkin said, hand against one of his headphones, listening to the info being fed to him. "There's 4 transport trucks being escorted by tanks and infantry guarding both the front and rear of the column… this won't be as easy as I had hoped. There's reported to be Darcsen prisoners among the Imperials today so watch your fire and keep those prisoners in mind."

"Right!!" said everyone in unison

"Alright, they'll be here in less then 15 minutes, everyone, this location offers plenty of hiding places amongst the rocks, tall grass and rock ledges up high. We should have no trouble ambushing that convoy if we play our cards right."

And with that, the entire squad began to spread out. The area had a wide road that curved to the right, high rocks jutted out of the ground everywhere, very tall, very wide, and able to conceal a large number of troops on either side of the road. The grass was also very tall in places; it allowed troops to hide, while keeping an eye on the road. The high rock ledges gave an excellent overhead view for the snipers and lancers to ambush the tanks and troops. On one of the ledges was a gigantic tree, so wide it could hide both the Edelweiss and the shamrock from view as the Imperials made their way down the road.

Within minutes the entire squad had found places to hide, some amongst the rocks, others in the grass, the snipers and lancers found places up high to rain bullets and lancaar rounds upon their foes and the Edelweiss and Shamrock had taken up positions behind the gigantic tree, engines cut to keep their tanks quiet while the convoy came into view not too far down the road now, kicking up dust and dirt into the air..

2 medium tanks lead the convoy, followed by a dozen shock troopers following close behind. Behind that, were the 4 transport trucks, shock troopers, lancers and scouts walking on either side, guarding them. And finally, there were two more medium tanks guarding the rear.

Everyone in squad 7 let the convoy move through the canyon road towards them, holding their fire until they were in deep enough to ambush them on all sides.

On one side of the road, Vyse had his back pressed against one of the giant boulders dotting each side of the road, tightening and loosening his grip around the stock of his machine gun. His heart was beating deep and hard in his chest, as he listened to the first two tanks rumble on by his location. As the convoy continued on he could hear some Imperial soldiers talking and laughing as they walked along the road.

"I got two of those stinking dark-hairs today, how bout you??" asked one Imperial soldier.

"I shot me a pair of twins, double points for me" said the other.

One of the officers laughed as he joined in the conversation. "Yeah, the world's better off with those oily dark-hairs dead and gone."

Vyse began to shake in anger, clenching his teeth together tightly. Aika could see his front hand shaking as it held an even tighter grip around his machine gun. She knew that he wanted to charge out there right there, right now. So she placed one of her hands on top of his and looked into his eyes, slowly shaking her head back and forth.

"We'll get an excellent bounty on all these Dark-hairs we captured today." said an Imperial officer in red armour, patting the side of one of the grey trucks with his hand.

"Yeah, his majesty will be most pleased when we present him with these forced workers" said a soldier beside him.

Just then there was a gunshot and the officer stopped dead in his tracks, a hole in his helmet, and right in the forehead. He dropped his gun, then his arms fell to his side and he fell backwards, hitting the ground dead. The soldier beside him looked on in shock, then up at the nearby cliffs edge, seeing a glint of light before he felt a bullet enter his chest. He dropped to his knees just as one of the two tanks exploded in a flash of blue and red, followed by the other immediately afterwards. His head then dropped forward and he hit the ground, dying shortly afterwards.

"Ambush!!, to the front!!" shouted another Imperial soldier and all of the Imperial soldiers on either side of the road began to run to the head of the column, but loud shouts and gunfire suddenly erupted from the left side of the road as Gallian militia soldiers came out from behind rocks, up from the grass spraying bullets at them, and running up to the cliffs ledge, raining lancaar, sniper rounds and bullets from their raised position up high.

"Now! Attack!" shouted Rosie, waving her arm forward. "Let's stop these so called hunters here and now!!" and Rosie charged forward, ahead of everyone else.

"Gallians, to the left!!" shouted another Imperial officer in Red, but he was then hit in the back of the head by a sniper round and hit the ground dead.

Another Imperial soldier looked down at his officer, then behind himself and saw even more Gallian militia soldiers appear from behind rocks, up from the grass and high cliff ledge. "Gallians…left, right and center…retreat! RETREAT!!" he screamed, waving his arm towards the rear of the column. He and the other Imperial foot soldiers started to run away and the tanks shifted into reverse and began driving backwards.

"The hunters are on the run!! Don't let them get away; let's show them what it really means to be hunted. Don't let a single one of them go!!" screamed Rosie.

One retreating tank suddenly exploded, and then the other. The Edelweiss then came roaring around the corner of the bend in the road, followed by the Shamrock and both took up positions side by side on the dirt road, aiming their turrets and gun barrels towards the Imperials. Alicia and the others had also arrived just behind the Edelweiss and began shooting towards the remaining Imperials, dropping each and everyone of them as they went down fighting.

All was then quiet, the members of squad 7 moving up to check on the downed Imperial soldiers, either kicking them lightly with the boots or poking them with their rifles, checking for any movement or other signs of life.

Meanwhile Vyse was running to the first transport truck, Aika by his side, they had no idea what to expect one they reached it, but it was told that there'd be prisoners aboard. Once they reached the back flap, Vyse grabbed one side of the flap, Aika grabbed the other and they both opened them up at the same time and then took a step back.

It was dark inside, but suddenly they saw a pair of eyes blink, then ever so slowly a middle aged Darcsen man came out, jumping down from the cab and immediately helping a young girl, probably his daughter out, others began to follow as they exited the back of the truck.

Aika looked at Vyse and Vyse looked at Aika, both smiled at each other and went up to help the men, women and children out of the cab.

"Here, take my hand." said Vyse to a Darcsen woman, helping her out.

A Darcsen child was crying as he moved to the back of the truck, towards the exit. "There there little one, there's no need to cry now. All the bad men are gone" said Aika, picking up the child and petting his head, before setting him down on the ground and readying to help the next Darcsen out.

Vyse looked down the road and saw the other members of squad 7 moving to secure the other trucks; some were already unloading Darcsen prisoners, Vyse smiled even more.

"Hey there!" said a familiar voice, and Vyse turned to see Ellet smiling at him as she approached. "Well done boy, another victory for Squad 7." Ellet then rose up her Camera just as Vyse picked up a young female Darscen child. "Hold that pose; this'll make a great photo. Vyse Inglebard, daring young adventurer saves Darcsen child from Darcsen hunting party."

Vyse held onto the child and both she and Vyse smiled for the camera as Ellet tried to focus it. But a blood curdling scream made his smile fade and he looked towards the scream, seeing Nadine slowly walking backwards, trembling immensely, hands held up to her face, covering her mouth. She was at the rear of the convoy, at the last truck in line.

He set the child down and ran towards her, grabbing hold of her arms. "Nadine, what's wrong?!?" Vyse asked, but Nadine began to pull away from Vyse, even hitting him in the arms and shoulders to try and get away.

"Let me go!!, just let me go!!" she screamed, breaking free and running away as fast as she could, dropping her rifle and stripping off her back pack as she ran.

Aika came running up to Vyse and placed her hand on his shoulder, "Vyse, what happened??" she asked, very worried. But her eyes shot open even wider when she looked down at her gloved right hand, seeing it stained with blood. She looked at Vyse's arms and saw blood all over his sleeves and shoulders and chest, though it clearly wasn't his.

"Vyse…" Aika said with a trembling voice, her hand shaking as she looked at both her bloody right hand and his blood stained uniform. Vyse was also in shock and slowly, both he and Aika looked back towards the last truck. Buzzing near the back flap were lots of black flies, the tail gate was painted red, or so it looked. Vyse gulped and slowly walked towards the back of the truck, reaching out with a trembling hand and quickly moving the flap to the side.

But as soon as he did he looked away in horror, Aika doing the same. For in the back of the truck were over 2 dozen bullet riddled bodies of Darcsen men and women, old and young as well as some children. All were wearing shawls with the Darcsen pattern on them.

Soon other members of the squad came to investigate what was going on and all of them saw the horrible sight in the back of the truck. Lynn immediately ran to Karl and held onto him as she sobbed hard against his chest; other's lowered their heads and looked away, unable to look at the carnage before them.

"Oh god… Nadine!!" Said Vyse and he took off running to where he last saw her heading, afraid for her safety. Aika remained where she was, still looking at her blood soaked glove. Unable to take the sight, she tore off her glove and threw it as far as she could. She then dropped to her knees, tears falling from her eyes and she began to sob loudly, her shoulders heaving up and down as she cried.

A comforting hand then rested on her shoulder, Aika looked up and saw Wavy, another Darcsen member from squad 7. He helped her to her feet, and kept her back towards the truck while resting his hands on her shoulders. He himself looked disturbed by what he had seen, but he always kept his composure and was more concerned with helping other members like Aika with a comforting word or hand.

"It's terrible that this had to happen… but I am relieved that we saved so many Darcsen here today." said Wavy

"Aren't you angry? Sad about this Wavy??" asked Aika, tears still falling from her eyes.

"Yes… it's a terrible tragedy." said Wavy, "But what's even more terrible to know this… that even if we win this war, even if we drive the Imperials out. This won't stop… Darcsen hatred, Darcsen prejudice, Darcsen hunting… It will all be the same even if we win; nothing will change, except the number of innocent Darcsen who will die before we get there."

Close by, Ellet looked at the disturbing scene, and then turned her back to it. "I never should have come… I don't think… I don't think I can write this story."

Wavy let go of Aika and walked up to Ellet, "You have to Miss Ellet; you have to let people everywhere know what the Imperials did here today. You let them know how my people… the Darcsens have died."

Ellet gulped hard and slowly nodded her head. "Alright… I will." and she walked away, scribbling something in her notepad and then walking around taking photos.

Aika had finally dried her tears and walked up to Wavy, who was now moving bodies of the dead Darcsens off to the side of the road. He was kneeling in front of 4 small Darcsen children, looking down at them with sadness in his eyes.

This time it was Aika who placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, "Wavy… I'm so sorry about what's happened to your people in this war. I have never seen anything like this in all my years of travelling."

Wavy looked back and saw the rest of the squad members unloading the dead Darcsens, and then looked back down at the small children in front of him. "It's not fair, that I should live while one's so young die in this war. I'm old, and they're so young…"

Wavy finally removed his glasses and placed his hand against his eyes, lowering his head and crying softly for all of the young Darcsens killed that day. Aika remained by his side, never taking her hand off of his shoulder.

---

Meanwhile, not far off "Nadine! NADINE!!" Vyse called out, searching desperately for his friend. He didn't know what she'd do after seeing such a terrible sight. She could harm herself if he didn't find her soon; he already knew how much she was suffering before all of this.

Vyse then saw something from the edge of a nearby forest; Nadine's tool belt was lying on the ground. He ran to it and picked it up, and then looking towards the forest, he knew that she must have gone in there. He dropped the belt and ran into the forest as fast as he could, pushing his way past branches in the way, wading through bushes and jumping over fallen logs, stumps. Just then, a little deeper into the forest, he saw a bright blue glowing light. So he ran towards it, and soon found Nadine kneeling down amongst the forest floor, her head against a nearby tree.

"Nadine…" said Vyse, slowly walking towards her.

She slowly turned; streaks of tears visible on her cheeks, her cheeks flushed bright red. Vyse continued to slowly walk towards her.

"Vyse…I'm sorry" she said, hiding one of her hands behind her back.

Near her boot he saw a spent ragnaid capsule, "What've you done… what've you done!!" Vyse shouted, running towards her. She attempted to back up while hiding her hand behind her back. Vyse reached her and grabbed a hold of her. She attempted to struggle, but her movements felt weak to him, not like before. So Vyse held onto her with one arm, while trying to grab her other hand and bring it forward, to see what she was hiding.

Soon he was able to pry her arm out from behind her and saw another spent ragnaid capsule in her hand.

"No…Nadine, what have you done??" asked Vyse

"I'm sorry Vyse, I can't take it anymore…" Nadine said weakly, she then dropped the capsule to the ground, closed her eyes and exhaled deeply, her limp body fell forward against Vyse's.

Vyse grabbed a hold of her and slowly lowered her to the ground, never letting go of her. He craddled her in his arms, and rested her head against his chest and tried to say something. His lips moved, but his voice was stuck in the back of his throat, unable to come forward. He tried again and It finally came spilling forward in a long and loud scream of "**MMMMEEEEDDDIIICCC**!!!!"

_

* * *

_

_**Sad chapter... :*( got it down as best as I could, always sounds better in my head then when I get it on paper. Nadine has been through SO much in my story, she seems to get all of the bad stuff happening to her and that's unintentional. She's my favorite character in the Valkyria Chronicles world. I doubt any of the new people in VC2 will surpass her in favoritism, but I figured she must be hurting tremendously. So it's why I wrote this, also 2 of my favorite war movies included female soldiers or nurses abusing morphine just to get through the day.**_


	43. Chapter 43

_**Hey Readers, yeah this one is alittle short. but I thought I'd better get something done, I origionally planned to have it MUCH longer. But work has kept me busy, usually working 6 days/week and usually the last thing I wanna do is write after I get home. I spent afew days adding bit by bit to this chapter. write for abit, stop, leave it. I told myself I wouldn't do that this time. It was supposed to be alot longer, but I'm gonna split it into 2 or 3 parts, so this is only 1 part of a much longer planned chapter.**_

**Chapter 43- For love of a friend, part 1**

Vyse was sitting on a chair, at a table inside of a house, which was located in a nearby Darcsen village where the Darcsen hunts had being commenced. The owners of the house, who happened to be rescued Darcsens, from the hunt gladly let Fina use it as a make shift medical station. Also, the entire village had been completely abandoned after Zaka, tank driver and fellow Darcsen had given advice to the Darcsen residents living there to head inland, towards Randgriz. There, they would be safe.

Meanwhile, Fina the Medic was tending to an unconscious Nadine in the bedroom, across from where Vyse was sitting at the kitchen table. She was still alive, but her condition was critical. Worse yet, it had been a few hours since Vyse dragged her back from the forest where he discovered her, but she still had not awoken.

As Vyse's mind wandered, he happened to hear the thumping of boots coming from the next room, coming towards him. He looked over, the door to the bedroom opened and he saw Fina coming; she was looking down at the ground sadly, and as if in deep thought.

Vyse stood up and walked over to her, "How's Nadine… is she alright??"

Fina shook her head, "I can't say yet for certain, though I'm quite surprised that she's still alive…"

"What do you mean??" Vyse asked, tilting his head to the side.

"The amount of Ragnaid that she took was very near lethal level and yet she's still alive." Fina said. She fidgeted a little, nervously clenching her hands together in front of her. "Which must mean that… her body is used to the effects of Ragnaid by now and built up quite a tolerance for it? And that could only mean one thing…"

"So, she's been abusing Ragnaid for quite some time then…" Vyse concluded. Fina nodded her head.

"I'd hate to say this, but it's lucky for her that she did. That dose that she took probably would have killed anyone else her size, but her body now would require more then what she did take to have the same affect on her." Fina replied.

Vyse looked past Fina, and in through the open door to the next room, a bed room. And laying in a bed with white sheets and a thin white blanket was Nadine. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was soft, but a moan would escape from her every now and then. Her sweat covered face contorted as if in pain from time to time. And her head swayed to the left and right sometimes. It seemed that even in sleep she was still suffering.

"Any idea when she'll wake up, Fina??" Vyse asked, eager to know the answer

Fina bit her lower lip softly, and then looked back up at Vyse. "I don't know, but all I can say is… that it won't be very pleasant."

"How so?" Vyse asked, though he already had a general idea of what she was going to say.

"It's been many hours since her last dose of Ragnaid and judging by how used to the stuff that her body is, she'll most likely wake up craving another dose…. Very very badly." Fina answered, cringing at the thought of it all.

"I see… I guessed as much." Vyse said, "Can we wean her off the stuff slowly??"

"The best cure she has right now is to just stop, cold turkey." said Fina, "It'll be extremely rough and very painful for her, but this isn't the first case of Ragnaid addiction I've dealt with, so I'll be helping you out with it."

"Cold turkey… isn't that dangerous." Vyse asked

"Luckily withdrawing from ragnaid isn't as dangerous as withdrawing from Alcohol or other drugs, but it'll be a tough process none the less." Fina replied.

"Alright, I understand, I'll stay with her as well." Vyse said, looking over at his best friend Nadine.

Just then, Aika came bursting through the front door. "Vyse, Captain Varrot is coming… she heard what happened to Nadine."

"Oh no… I'll try and talk to her, try and explain what happened to make Nadine do this…." and Vyse walked to the front door, opened the door and stood in the door frame with Aika and Fina standing behind him. And sure enough they saw Captain Varrot coming towards the house they were in. Welkin and Lieutenant Faldio Landzatt were following on either side of her. Apparently, squad 1 was escorting Varrot back to Fort Amatirain, from a meeting with the Regulars who were fighting with the Imperials near the Gallian/Imperial border to the west.

She seemed to have a closer tie to Squad 7 then most of the other 9 or so squads, so she chose to make a personal appearance. Though as it was, she didn't look happy as she walked towards the house.

Vyse gulped and thought about what to say to save Nadine's hide. He knew Varrot probably wasn't going to tolerate someone wasting medical ragnaid for their own personal use.

Captain Varrot arrived at the house and stopped just in front of Vyse, who was blocking the doorway.

"Greetings, Captain Varrot!!" said Vyse, straightening up and giving a proper salute to his commanding officer.

She returned the salute, "I hear a certain tragedy has befallen the squad and came to see what it was."

Vyse was surprised; she didn't respond how he figured that she would. She seemed genuinely worried. So relieved, Vyse exhaled deeply and moved aside to let Captain Varrot in. She nodded and walked to the back room where Nadine was lying in bed. Captain Varrot then sat down on the edge of the bed and looked down at Nadine; she even respectfully brushed aside some hair that was covering her face.

Vyse looked at Aika and she looked at him, both were surprised by her caring attitude.

Varrot then turned to Vyse and Aika, "This is not the first case of Ragnaid addiction I have seen with my own eyes. In fact it was more common then you'd think in the first Europan war… even had a friend who went through the same thing. The war just broke her spirit… her soul… it was the only way she could cope.

This location seems safe enough for now so… Vyse, Aika and Fina… I will have you three remain here with Nadine. I do not think it wise to bring her back to base in this condition. So I'm entrusting the three of you to care for her here.

The rest of the squad will come with me back to Fort Amatirain. News has it that the Imperials are amassing in the west, in the plains of Naggiar. So we will begin preparations to depart for Naggiar within a few days. Nadine will be given that time to recover… however if she is not capable by the time we depart, she'll be dishonourably discharged from the Militia.

(Varrot noticed the worried look on Vyse and Aika's faces) Oh don't worry, I'm a lenient Commander. Regulations should have had me discharge her the moment I found out about this incident. But I won't, I know that with your help she'll pull through."

"I see, sounds fair enough… thank you." said Vyse, wiping his sweaty brow with the back of his uniform jacket sleeve.

Everyone exchanged smiles, but their moment was interrupted, "Well… so it's true, she did nearly OD from taking too much ragnaid." said Cezary Regards voice from the open doorway.

Everyone looked and saw him poking his head in and looking at Nadine, who was lying in bed. Rosina was standing beside him. She must have been the one who told Cezary, the two were friends of sorts after all.

Vyse sighed, "What are you doing here…"

"Nothing just came to see if it was true. And sure enough it was" Cezary replied, walking in the house and looking past Vyse, into the nearby bedroom.

Vyse sidestepped to the left. Blocking Cezary's view of Nadine and glared at him. "Now's not the time to be disrespectful, one of our squad mates nearly died."

"Yeah, I figured that something like this might happen. Did I mention we caught her getting high off Ragnaid the other day behind your Barracks." said Cezary, he then turned to Varrot. "So what kind of punishment is she going to face for this??"

"WHAT?!?" shouted Vyse, causing everyone to jump in surprise, "You knew what she was doing and you didn't tell us??"

Cezary glared back at Vyse, "Hey, I'm not her squad leader. Welkin or you should have taken better care of your own squad mates. Rosina and I noticed the signs before we saw her shoot up.", Rosina nodded but remained silent.

Vyse balled up his right fist in extreme anger; his gloves gave off a squeaking sound that alerted Varrot as she looked down at his trembling right hand. "Sgt. Inglebard, I warn you. Do not resort to violence. Even if Cezary didn't notify someone, he's not obligated to. He belongs to Squad 1, not Squad 7." it didn't help much, she could see Vyse clenching his teeth together, air wheezing through his teeth in anger.

"What… ya going to hit me now over a dark-hair, ragnaid addict??" asked Cezary, he clearly knew by now how to push Vyse's buttons.

"That's enough out of you Cezary; report back to your squad immediately. We do not need squad mate against squad mate at a time like this." Varrot ordered in a firm, commanding voice.

But Vyse had had enough; Cezary was nothing but a pain in the ass that needed a good ass kicking. He had taunted, tormented and emotionally hurt his good friend Nadine one too many times now. Whatever the consequences, he'd gladly face them; nothing was going to hold him back now.

Vyse looked up, eyes wide with anger, knuckles lined up, ready to deliver the 1st of many blows now. "DAMN Y-", but he didn't get to finish, nor move. For in a blinding flash of speed, Aika rushed past Vyse and planted a solid punch that connected with Cezary's chin. His entire head twisted to the left, a shower of blood, saliva and long groan leaving his mouth as he fell backwards. Aika then stood over Cezary, glaring down at him. Her shoulders heaving up and down as she breathed in deep and angry, over and over again.

Rosina started towards Aika, her back to Rosina, "Hey!, what the F-" *SMACK*, Aika threw her elbow backwards without even looking and it connected with Rosina's face, sending her to the ground even faster then Cezary.

Captain Varrot slammed her balled up fist into the side of the wooden wall so hard it cracked loudly, a small impact crater surrounding her gloved hand, splinters sticking out all around her fist.

"I tried to be lenient, I tried to be patient and over look all of this… but you… you just couldn't behave…" said Varrot angrily. "GUARDS!!"

And two soldiers from Squad 1 entered the house, Varrot immediately pointed to Aika, "Take this one away; she's going straight to the stockades when we arrive at Fort Amatirain!!"

Vyse stepped over Rosina as he made his way over to Aika, she turned and faced him. Tears welling up in her eyes as she looked at Vyse. "I'm sorry baby…"

"Aika…" said Vyse, placing his hand on her shoulder. One of the soldiers retrieved a pair of plastic handcuffs, while the other placed Aika's hands behind her back, wrists close together.

"Nadine needs you more then me… I know this… it's why I did it before you could." said Aika, wrists now cuffed behind her back. "Take care of her, please…"

Vyse was too chocked up, but he nodded. Both soldiers placed one hand on Aika's shoulders and began to escort her out of the house as she walked backwards towards the door with them. "Goodbye… Vyse…" she then disappeared from view as she exited the house with her military escort.

Vyse lowered his head, tears building up in his eyes. He raised his head and looked, tears in the corner of his eyes towards Varrot. And it's as if she was able to read his mind, just by looking into his eyes. And his unspoken question was "why?"

"Even if he deserved this, I cannot and will not look the other way when one squad mate attacks another. You may not think this now… but there are much more important things to worry about, to get angry about.

We cannot afford to fight amongst ourselves no matter what makes us want to, we have to fight the Empire which is at this very moment, invading our home soil in ever growing numbers at Naggiar.

So just know that I'm doing my duty and punishing those who must be punished according to military law. I take no pride or joy in it, but it must be done."

Vyse breathed in deep and angrily, but he nodded his head. He then slowly unclenched his fists and closed his eyes, slowing his breathing, his anger dying down in sync with the slowing of his rapid heartbeat.

He then returned to Nadine's bedside, pulling up a chair next to her bed. He looked down at her and retrieved a small wash cloth, submerged in cool water from a nearby bucket, wrung it out and softly ran it across her sweat covered forehead and down her cheeks. She moaned as if in response to Vyse's tender, caring touch.

Soon Fina re-entered the room, large cardboard box in her hands and sat at a nearby table and began to unpack some supplies she had retrieved from a nearby market and medical clinic. Things which they would need over the next few days, medical and essential supplies among them, which included food, bottled water, spare clothes to name a few.

Varrot looked into the room, closed her eyes and sighed. Cezary was just starting to come to, she immediately look over at him and glared. "You… you just don't know when you stop with this Darcsen hatred of your's"

"Is it against any military or local laws to hate Darcsens??" Cezary replied, rubbing his sleeve across his cut lip, Rosina moving to help him up.

"No… it isn't"

Cezary nodded and left the house with Rosina; Varrot shook her head and left soon after. Not long after, both squads pulled out of the area and headed back to base. Leaving Vyse and Fina behind, to look after Nadine. When and if she ever managed to wake up.

* * *

_**As always, thanks for reading, please leave a review. Yeah it was alittle short, but like I said, it was supposed to be alot longer. But just ain't found time to write recently, there'll be more soon, don't worry. :)**_


	44. Chapter 44

**Chapter 44- For love of a Friend part 2**

It was getting late into the evening of the same day Aika was taken away by Captain Varrot for striking Cezary and Rosina. Though they more then deserved it, she was now bound for the stockades for an unknown amount of time. But, Aika herself knew that, if she didn't act first, Vyse would have, and then he'd be in her place right now. She knew very well how Nadine felt about Vyse, and possibly how he felt about her. If anyone could help Nadine get through her Ragnaid withdrawal it would be Vyse.

Aikasighed and moved her hands around, the cuffs rubbing against her wrists. "Maybe it's better if he and I stay friends… we've been that since childhood. Nadine seems like she really needs someone to be with, someone strong, brave and willing to protect her no matter what. Vyse is definitely that man…"

Just as she finished that thought the APC that she was riding in came to a halt, the gears grinding loudly through use and wear throughout the war. Aika inhaled nervously and exhaled slowly, she had arrived at her destination.

The guard next to Aika stood up, head kept low to avoid hitting the low roof as he moved to the back of the APC. The door opened and the guard hopped out, holding his hand out, ready to help Aika out of the vehicle.

Aika nodded and made her way to the back, head kept low as well. Soon she reached the door and the guard grabbed her arm and helped her out. They then rounded the corner of the APCand came face to face with Captain Varrot once again. She looked down at Aika with unblinking, serious eyes.

"Are you ready to serve your time??" asked Varrot, Aika broke Varrot's gaze and looked down, she nodded in response to Varrot's question.

"Then follow me." Varrot said, leading the way towards a large building to the far right side of the base, away from the rest of the facilities.

Aika and her escort then reached the stockades. The interior was quite plain looking; there was a main administration area first off. A single guard was sitting behind a large desk in a fair sized room, a concrete wall and glass separating him and Captain Varrot as she approached.

Once the guard saw the Captain, he immediately stopped what he was doing, slide his chair away and saluted as he stood up. Varrot returned the salute and placed her hands on the counter.

"What can I do for Ma'am?" asked the Guard, still standing at attention.

Captain Varrot waved the other guard over and he led Aika towards Captain Varrot, hand still gripped on Aika's arm. Though it was not like Aika would try and escape, just standard procedure she guessed.

"I have one soldier, who will be placed into a holding cell for the next 3 days, on charges of attacking two fellow Militia soldiers." said Varrot.

The guard nodded and took down the information Captain Varrot provided onto a piece of paper on his desk. Next he took down Aika's name, rank; Squad number and her incarceration time give by Captain Varrot.

Once this was done, Aika was escorted into the holding cell area a little further inside the building. Captain Varrot was leading the way down the middle passage way inside the prisoner's hall. There were holding cells with white bars that lined either side of the passage way that Varrot, Aika and her escort were walking down.

Aika turned her head left and right as she passed the cells, nearly all of them were empty. However, one they were about to pass, held a young boy with short, messy brown hair and a white bandage across his nose. When Aika got closer to the cell, she looked closer and saw that it was Montley Leonard.

He was lying in his bed, reading a book, but just one look and he too immediately recognized Aika, his fellow squad mate and higher ranking officer of Squad 7. He set the book down and ran up to the bars, grabbing hold of them and moving his face close to them.

"Aika, Aika! So good to see another familiar face after all this time." said Montley as Aika began to walk past him.

"Yeah, It's been awhile… it's sad that we couldn't have met again under better circumstances." Aika responded, Montley nodded as Aika was led away, but she could see him smiling. She had forgotten how long ago it was when he was first incarcerated for trying to shoot Marina Wulfstan, after learning that she claimed to of killed his two good friends, Ted Ustinov and Nancy Dufour. But that was quite a while ago, and she wondered just how much longer he was going to remain locked up here.

They were nearing the end of the rows of holding Cells; Captain Varrot quickened her pace and stood next to a cell on the left hand side of the room. It was clearly the one that Aika would be put into for the next few days.

Aikathen looked to her right and saw someone, though it was hard to tell who it was at first. The prisoner's cell was dark, and he or she was lying down in the bed provided, back pressed against the back bars of his or her cell, reading a small bookthat concealed the readers face. The sound of approaching footsteps must have alerted the prisoner, for he or she lowered the book ever so slightly and Aika saw a single violet coloured eye looking at her, the other eye concealed by long black hair that covered most of her face.

Aika gasped, "Marina… it's you Marina, isn't it??" Aika asked, she hadn't seen her since the Bruhl mission and had always wondered how she was doing, if she was still alright. The wounds she had received were quite severe that day and Aika was worried for her when she was taken away. Though it looked like the physical wounds had healed, though she couldn't tell if the emotional ones had too.

But Marina didn't respond, she just raised the book back up to her face and continued reading. Clearly she still wasn't in a talkative mood, though that wasn't all entirely new, she never ever really was much of a talker to begin with.

Aika was then lead to her cell, which was one down and on the other side of the passage way from Marina's. "Are you ready to serve your time??" Varrot asked as the guard removed Aika's restraints.

Aika rubbed her wrists, which had been cuffed for many hours and nodded. "Yeah, I guess so."

The cell door slide open and Aika walked inside unassisted, the cell door sliding closed soon after, clicking loudly as it locked. Captain Varrot nodded to the guard and he nodded back, saluted and left. Captain Varrot then moved close to the bars.

"Being a Captain is not an easy job, and this is not something that I take any pride or joy in. I've given you the minimum sentence time that I could allow, 3 days." said Varrot, "On the 4thday we depart for Naggiar. So think long and hard about your actions today. Cezary may have deserved to get hit, but it doesn't give you the right to do so."

"I understand Ma'am." said Aika, "It won't happen again, I promise."

"See that it doesn't." said Varrot, she then took a step back, turned on her heels and began to walk away, her heeled shoes clicking against the passage way floor. She stopped for a moment in front of Marina's cell, looked in, and then sighed. She then continued on and left the building.

Meanwhile, Aika walked around her holding cell, looking up at the ceiling and all around. It wasn't very big, but still had room for a metal spring bed, sink and toilet.

"What have you gotten yourself into this time Aika…" she thought to herself. She walked to the bed and sat down on it, the springs squeaking loudly. The beds were worse here then in the barracks, but that was to be expected. "That Vyse owes me big time for this…", Aika smiled at the mention of his name.

She then became worried, "I hope they're all doing ok…"

Meanwhile, far away, Vyse was sitting at the wooden table, located in the kitchen of the house where Fina had set them up at. It was getting late and Vyse's eyes were starting to get heavy. He rested his elbow against the table and placed his head against his hand. Fina was behind him at the stove, frying up some food for the two of them. She had set aside some soft food for Nadine, when she woke up.

"Maybe… if I close my eyes for just a few minutes." thought Vyse, yawning at the same time. He closed his eyes; his head drooped a little ways forward.

But the sound of a loud gasp shook him awake, it clearly startled Fina as well, as the eggs she was frying up spilled onto the floor, the frying pan following next, clanging loudly against the ground.

"W-where… a-a-am I??" asked Nadine, she had bolted upright and was backing up against the corner wall, holding the blankets up to her face, body curled up.

Vyse got up and immediately ran to her bedside, sitting on the bed and looking at Nadine. She was a mess, her hair was messy, her face was near chalk white pale, sweat was pouring down her face and he could see her hands trembling as she held onto the blankets.

"Calm down Nadine, everything's alright. You're safe here." said Vyse.

Nadine suddenly lurched forward and fell against the bed, curling up into the fetal position, arms and legs pulled into towards her chest. Her whole body was trembling. "Oh my god, my body… my head… it hurts SO much!!" cried Nadine, constantly shutting her eyes tight, her head swaying left and right in extreme pain that came in waves, her head feeling worse then the worst migraine she ever had.

Vyse knew this might happen, but he underestimated just how ready he was for it. He wasn't, he didn't know what to do or say at that very moment to help her. So Fina pushed him aside and sat down in his place, reaching forward and grasping a hold of Nadine's hands with her own.

"Nadine." Fina said firmly, "You're going through ragnaidwithdrawal right now. I know it's painful, but you have to bear with it."

Nadine shookher head, her hair swaying wildly with her movement, "No… N-no, I can't, n-n-not right now." cried Nadine, "J-just give me a little bit of Ragnaid, when that wears off then I'll start. Don't do this to me when I've just woken up in such pain."

Fina bit her bottom lip nervously, "Sorry, I can't do that."

Nadine grabbed one of Fina's hands with both of her's and squeezed tightly, "PLEASE!!, just a little…"

Vyse had finally regained his composure and moved back and sat on the other side of Nadine, he took hold of one of her hands and placed them in between both of his hands, squeezing firmly.

"Nadine… we can't do that… I can't do that." said Vyse, Nadine whipped her head over and looked at Vyse, tears building up in her red, blood shot eyes. She let go of Fina's hand and grabbed Vyse by the front of his uniform, trying to hold her weak, trembling body up to look into his eyes.

"Vyse, you don't understand… It hurts so much… I can't take it!!" cried Nadine, her head fell forward and rested against Vyse's chest. Once she lifted her head again, Vyse's chest had a wet, round moisture stain from Nadine's sweat drenched head. "Just 1 capsule, that's all I need."

Vyse maintained his gaze into Nadine's eyes, he shook his head firmly. "No, I'm not giving you any. Because I'm your friend, and a friend wouldn't help another friend continue a habit that would eventually kill her."

Nadine then broke down and began to sob loudly. Vyse's heartbeat was racing, he had never seen any of his friends go through something like this. Vyse tooka deep breathand brought both of his hands up, wrapping his arms around Nadine's shoulders and across her back, holding her close to him, he could feel her body shaking, like she was shivering.

"It's going to be ok Nadine, trust me." said Vyse, patting and rubbing his hands up and down Nadine's back. "I'll stay with you throughout this entire ordeal."

And thus began to long, first night of Nadine's withdrawal. Vyse sat on the side of Nadine's bed, she was breathing heavily, almost as if hyperventilating. She was holding one of Vyse'shands withone of her own hands, the other she was balling up into a fist constantly, with each wave of pain. She also hadn't stopped crying yet, she released a sob and gritted her teeth together with each wave of pain as well.

Fina was in the kitchen across from Vyse and Nadine; she was leaning against the counter, looking into the room. Her hand was up against her mouth, the other wrapped across her stomach as she watched. It pained her to see someone, a patient in pain like this, but she couldn't do anything to help, just watch and be ready for any complications.

It was nearly 2:00 A.M. now and Nadine's withdrawal was still extremely painful. Vysewas still wide awake with Nadine, staying right there withher through it all. He reached over and retrieved the wash cloth from the cool water in the bucket close by. He carefully wiped it across Nadine's face; he could feel how hot her body had become from the withdrawal. He slowly shook his head back and forth, feeling such great pity for Nadine as she continued to cry and tremble.

In the kitchen, Fina was dozing off from time to time; her head drooped forward as she leaned back against the counter, arms folded across her chest. But she quickly raised her head, blinked her eyes a few times and gave her head a quick shake, trying to wake up once more.

At 3:00 A.M. Fina came into the room and handed Vyse a glass of cold water, which he drank. She then moved to the other side of the bed, carrying another glass of water. She looked at Vyse and nodded to him. He knew right away what she wanted to do.

So he ever so carefully placed one hand behind Nadine's back, Fina doing the same and they both slowly raised her up till she was almost sitting up straight.

"Here, drink this." said Fina, "You've lost a lot of fluids through perspiration and tears, your body needs more to keep up and help you get better."

Nadine slowly nodded and Fina moved the cup to her lips, slowly tilting it forward while Vyseheld her up. Nadine drank for a moment, and then spit most of it back up, coughing and choking. She could barely keep anything down with how much pain she was in, not even water.

She fell to the side, against Vyse and shook her head, "I can't do this Vyse… It's all too much…"

Vyse nodded and wrapped his arm around Nadine's shoulder and pulled her close, "I know it's tough Nadine, but you have to get through it. Keep fighting, I know you can beat this."

At 3:30 A.M. Vyse was awoken by Nadine grabbing a hold of him and pulling him downwards, causing him to fall and lay next to her. He didn't realize he had fallen asleep. Once she had him down she began to pat all around his belt, searching for something.

Vysequickly grabbed bothof her hands and sat up with her, "I don't have any!" Vyse said firmly, "I took all of my ragnaid off my belt and hid it."

Nadine cried in anger and began to hit Vyse's chest with her balled up fists, Vyse held tightly onto her wrists and tried to stop her. She began to cry once more, "You should have left me back in the forest, you shouldn't have saved me!!"

"I saved you at Barious, I saved you during the Darcsen hunts and I'll continue to save you, time and time again for as long as I have to… because I care about you, so much.", Nadine shut her eyes and nodded her head, still crying softly. Vyse wrapped his arms around her and shook her back and forth, his cheek resting on top of her head.

At 4:00 A.M. Fina was asleep at the kitchen table. She was sitting this time, head turned, resting against her arms that were on top of the table. Nadine had quieted down some, but she was still wide awake, so was Vyse. He sat at her bedside, she had her body turned, lying on her side, still trembling, still shaking. She was now shivering, like she was freezing, her teeth chattering loudly. Her legs were kicking involuntarily underneath her bed sheets, her body would shake or jerk occasionally in a body spasm.

Vyse tried to get her to drink, this time with more success. She was able to drink half a glass before she started to cough and choke, spitting up some water that stained the white sheets of her bed and blankets.

At 4:30 A.M. Vyse was reaching pure exhaustion, but he and Fina worked out together that he'd care for Nadine during her 1st night, alone. While she'd take over the next day, in the morning, allowing Vyse to catch up on sleep that day. So, Nadine next to him, reached for his hand, which he move towards her, letting her take hold once more.

"Vyse… I'm so tired…" Nadine said sadly, rubbing her head across her pillow.

Vyse nodded, "I know, so am I."

Vyse was deep in thought, when, "Vyse… say I do get better… what'll change??" Nadine asked softly, tears welling up in her eyes. "Nothing… I'm still going to be a Darcsen. It hurts to know that I'm always going to be hated, persecuted and despised all my life and where ever I go in Europa. Facing the threat of Darcsenhunts that will continue even if we win this war… always having that fear of being killed or taken as a slave for forced labor in the Emprie, like all those poor people we couldn't save at Fouzen or during the hunts. "

"_Poor Nadine… she's been suffering long before this war even started I'm sure_." thought Vyse, he then turned to Nadine.

"Don't worry Nadine, things will get better, I promise." said Vyse, squeezing her hand reassuringly.

Nadine sat up and was now eye level with Vyse, "How… I don't see any way out of this feeling of hopelessness."

Vyse bit his bottom lip, checked to see that Fina was still asleep. Once he confirmed that she was he reached forward, softly combing back some of Nadine's dark blue hair till it was around her ear, he placed his hand against her cheek.

"I… I'm not supposed to be telling you this or asking this, as being part of the agreement that Aikaand I made with my father the day we left our homeland." said Vyse, "But, when this war is over, I want you to come back home with me… to my home in Arcadia."

Nadine's eyes shot wide open, "What?!?"

"I may not be able to change how people here feel about you. But if you come back home with me, you'll be treated as an equal by all who live there. The same way I've been treating you ever since I first arrived here." said Vyse, "But you have to fight now, you have to get through this so you'll be strong enough to make the long journey home with me when this war ends."

Nadine lowered her head and smiled for the first time that entire night, "I've never had someone be so kind to me in my entire life, and it gives me hope and strength to have you here with me."

"And if you come back with me, you'll have always have that feeling." said Vyse

Nadine gulped, "Vyse I-I have something that I need to tell you, though I'm not quite sure how to word it correctly."

"Alright, just take your time. And you don't have to answer my question about whether or not you want to come back to Arcadia with me; it's a big decision after all."

"No… it isn't, of course I want to go back and be with you in Arcadia…" Nadine's breathing quickened and she inhaled deeply, breathing out slowly next in an attempt to calm herself, "But, I also want to… to be with you… now."

Her cheeks turned bright red, not from fever or withdrawal, but from embarrassment.

"Be with m-- Oh…" Vyse replied, he too now blushing.

"I'm so sorry Vyse, despite writing a romance novel; I'm so terrible with these kinds of things and feelings in real life." Nadine chuckled, seems that all of this talk helped her momentarily forget her pain from withdrawal. "But you're the first person I've felt this way about in a very very long time. You're kind, strong, fair and willing to risk life and limb for the ones you care about. And saying and feeling like this just... feels so right, like it was meant to be."

Vyse nodded, but didn't respond. Nadine could see that he was deep in thought.

"I-I'm sorry Vyse, this probably isn't what you want to hear… I mean, I guess you and Aika are-" Nadine started, but Vyse pressed his finger softly against her lip, shushing her.

Vyse smiled brightly, "Actually… it's exactly what I wanted to hear. I'm not exactly all that good at this either." Vyse said, "But let's work on it… together."

Nadine's heart jumped for joy and she reached forward, embracing Vyse in a long, warm hug. For so long she had wanted to tell Vysejust how she really felt about him. And now she was finally going to be with the one she had loved from the very beginning, with the one who treated her as an equal from the moment they met, a rare feeling she hadn't felt all her life.

Nadine slowly released Vyse and brought her head back, she lowered her head and pressed her forehead softly against Vyse's, his head lowered as well. She moved back just a little and looked into Vyse's eyes; he was still blushing, as was she. Both closed their eyes and move towards each other, a second later, their lips pressed together in long, passionate kiss.

Vyse slowly brought up his hand and caressed Nadine's cheek as they continued to kiss; Nadine ran her hand through Vyse's hair. It was a much longer, more passionate kiss then their first one they shared long ago.

The two moved away from each other slowly soon after, Nadine smiling and softly biting her bottom lip, Vyse nervously licked his lips and grinned slightly while looking down. Nadine then lay back down in her bed, pulling the white sheets up to cover her body.

Nadine yawn, her body was still slightly trembling, but she didn't feel as in as much pain as she was before. "Thanks Vyse… my body, it doesn't hurt so much anymore."

Vyse nodded, "Anytime."

Nadine rubbed her head against her pillow, closing her eyes. "Vyse… tell me about Arcadia…" Nadine asked, sounding extremely tired.

Vyse leaned his head back against the wall and sighed, "It's unlike anything you've ever seen before… we have ships that sail the skies. Our home is located high up on a floating island in the sky… Pirate Isle it's called. It's where Aika and I live, a home we have not returned to in a very very long time. One I've been hoping to go back to soon.

I'll take you there first, there you can meet my father and the rest of the blue rogues, our pirate family you could call it. Then, we'll fly south to the lands of ice and explore the area, there is still so much to see and discover there. Or we could fish or swim in the Wandering lake or Moon stone lake. Fly north and shop and explore the great Stone city… or on a rainy day, we'll head to Rainbow Island, one of our greatest discoveries, Aika and I made.

I'll take you wherever you want to go in Arcadia… when we return, together."

But by this time, Vyse could hear Nadine breathing softly. He turned his head and saw that she had finally fallen asleep, peacefully. Vyse smiled, reached forward and softly brushed aside some hair that was covering her face and kissed her softly on the forehead.

"One day, when this war is over. I'll take you there, I promise." said Vyse quietly, and he knelt on the ground, placing his arms on top of Nadine's bed, and rested his head on the soft bed, close to Nadine's own head. He too was then able to close his eyes and finally fall asleep, dreaming of the day when he'd be able to take Nadine back with him to his homeland of Arcadia.

* * *

_**Truth be told, I'M the one who's terrible at writing romance :P, hahaha. Oh well, give me a bit of a break, I spent the last 4 days writing, erasing, re-writing the Nadine and Vyse scene over and over and over again. I just might revise it once or twice more, just thought I'd present this part and ask what ya think, ok or major cheesy and needs to be re-written... I think it probably should. But nearly a dozen times and it still didn't seem to flow quite right.... anyone good at writing romance and could offer suggestions??**_

_**and I decided on the Nadine+Vyse couple pairing, hope too many people are disappointed I didn't do the Aika+Vyse couple pairing.**_


	45. Chapter 45

**Chapter 45- Day of Peace**

It was very early in the morning when Aika heard someone tapping on the bars of her holding cell. She rolled over and looked towards the cell door. There was a female guard standing there, a black baton in hand, a stern look on her face.

"Time for your morning shower." she said as she moved a set of keys to Aika's door and unlocked it. Aika nodded and sat up as the door slide opened and the guard waited for her to come out.

She was then escorted down the hall and into a small shower room; the floor was tiled, as were the walls. At the far side were 5 shower stalls, each only had a large rectangular piece of wood screwed into the wall to separate the stalls, no curtains or anything else. It was 2 feet off the floor and about 6 feet high off the ground in total and just long enough to conceal the body of the person taking a shower.

Aika gulped and turned around, seeing the guard standing there, arms folded across her chest, staring, and waiting.

"Um… d-do you have to stand there… the whole time??" she asked, hands fidgeting nervously together in front of her body.

The guard nodded, "Of course, you're a prisoner after all." said the guard, "We're both women, so what are you so worried about??"

"Oh… o-ok." said Aika, she gulped again and ever so slowly began to remove her uniform, the guard never taking her eyes off of her.

"_Oh Vyse, You owe me **BIG** time for this when I get back_." Thought Aika, she finished getting undressed and quickly headed to the first shower stall.

She turned on the faucets, both hot and cold until she found the perfect water temperature, not too hot and not too cold. The steaming water began to spray from the shower head and Aika moved her hands up to her braided hair, carefully taking out the red string ties she used to secure her stiff boomerang like braids into place with. Once both were untied, she un-braided her hair quickly and gave her head a shake, her reddish orange hair falling down her back and over her shoulders. It wasn't often that she let her hair down or let anyone see her like that, but what could else she do when the guard was watching her the entire time.

She then stepped under the shower head and let the warm water wash over her, she smiled as the water ran over her head, hair and down her body. She had forgotten how soothing a hot, steamy shower was, for a moment it felt like she was back home in her own private shower, not in a prison cell shower. All of her previous worries disappeared for as long as she was under that warm water from the shower.

Just as Aika was reaching for the shampoo bottle, she heard the door open up once more. She turned her head and saw Marina Wulfstan enter the shower room, another guard following close behind her. The guard then stood next to the other one that escorted Aika inside. She too stood and kept her eye on Marina, watching and guarding her.

Marina's eyes seemed devoid of emotion and seemed distant as she undressed. Though the way she did was slow and more robot like, as if she was just going over a routine she did daily, simply going through the movements without even thinking anymore.

Aika continued to watch, rubbing shampoo into her hair as she did. Marina slowly walked over, entered the stall next to Aika and turned on the taps, head kept down, and eyes looking at the floor as the water washed over her.

For the next few minutes Marina just stood there, not moving. The shower head continued spraying warm water over her hair, streams of water washing down her slim body. But still she kept her head dropped slightly forward, eyes or rather her one good eye looking down, and her expression was plain, devoid of any emotion at all. Not sad, not happy, just… plain, blank.

Aika meanwhile was scrubbing her body with soap, looking over at Marina every now and then. Aika gulped as things were starting to get uncomfortable. "_Wow… I knew Marina was quiet… but not this quiet__._" thought Aika.

"HEY!" shouted Marina's guard, "Hurry and get showered up, and don't take too long this time."

Aika thought she heard Marina scoff a little, and she reached forward, grabbing the soap and began to wash her body. But it was in the same slow, robot like movements, just going through the motions without even thinking.

Aika couldn't take the silence anymore, "Uh… Hi, Marina…" she said finally.

Aika could see Marina's one visible violet coloured eye look over at her for a moment then move back; staring at that same spot she had for the last 5 minutes. Marina then turned her body and Aika could see all of her wounds that she had received at Bruhl. They were scars now, but they still worried Aika, for one thing she didn't know how she had received them. There were a few long, healed scars, which must have been caused by a blade or something similar cutting across her body.

"_What could have happened at Bruhl to make her become like this, how on earth someone gets cut wounds like that in a war usually fought with guns__." _Aika wondered_. "And… did she really kill Ted and Nancy that day… is that why she's become so quiet and emotionless now??"_

"Hey Marina, are you ok??" Aika asked, "I mean, physically, you were hurt pretty bad at Bruhl…"

"My wounds have healed." Marina stated plainly.

"Oh… that's good." said Aika, "So when are you getting out? How long is your punishment??"

Marina continued looking forward, face remained blank and emotionless "…I don't know…"

"Oh, well I hope its soon." said Aika. "We… miss you back at the squad."

Marina didn't respond, she just turned off the faucets, grabbed a nearby towel and wrapped it around her body. She then stepped out of the shower and slowly walked towards her guard escort.

"Finished…" she said to her guard as she approached her. She quickly dried herself off and put her uniform back on just as fast and exited the shower room.

"Are you almost finished in there??" Aika's guard asked

"Yeah, almost." said Aika

Aika sighed sadly, "_Poor Marina… I wish I could help her somehow. Whatever happened that day must have been truly terrible_." and Aika went back to her shower.

_-----_

A few hours later and far away, it was nearing 2:00 P.M. and Vyse was still asleep. But he was soon awoken by Nadine, who lightly tapped him on the shoulder. He moaned and rolled over, looking sleepy eyed at Nadine who was holding two brown wooden bowls, steaming with some kind of soup or stew that Fina had made.

"Sorry to disturb you Vyse, just thought you'd best get something to eat, you've been asleep all day." said Nadine, handing him one of the two bowls. Vyse nodded and sat up, taking the bowl and resting his back against the backboard of the bed he was lying in.

He smelled the soup and it smelled delicious, the smell of chicken, meat and potatoes with a light dash of pepper. "Mmmm… Fina made this??" Vyse asked, taking a spoon full of the steaming hot stew.

Nadine nodded, but didn't eat just yet. Instead she walked over and sat on the bed next to Vyse and smiled at him.

As Vyse took another spoonful he looked at Nadine, and she seemed to be looking a lot better then she did last night. Color was starting to return to her face, and there wasn't any sweat on her face anymore.

"I must say… you're starting to look a lot better already. Not craving any Ragnaid??" Vyse asked.

He immediately realized his error in say that, for as soon as he did, Nadine's right hand, which was in the middle of raising the spoon to her mouth began to tremble greatly. It then fell from her hand and hit the wooden floor. The soup bowl followed soon after, spilling its contents onto the floor.

"I-I'm sorry Nadine, I didn't mean to…" Vyse said, poking a potato round and round his bowl with his spoon while looking down at the bed sadly.

Nadine grabbed a hold of her right hand with her left and held it tight against her stomach, trying to stop her hand from shaking so badly.

"No… it's alright Vyse." Nadine said a sweat starting to form on her forehead, a single bead of sweat began to roll down the side of her head. "It's only when I think about… that stuff, that this happens to me."

She breathed in deep and breathed out slowly a few times and her hands began to tremble a little less.

"How's the soup??" Nadine asked, trying to think of something else quickly.

"It's… pretty good." Vyse replied, taking another spoonful of the stew, "Aren't you going to have some??"

Nadine chuckled, "Hehe… maybe later, when my hands stop shaking. Don't think I'd be able to hold a spoon properly in this state and get it into my mouth without spilling it all over the place."

"Hmmm… let me help you then." said Vyse, sitting up straight and scooted over towards Nadine. Once he was close enough he took a spoonful of stew, with a potato cube in the middle and blew on it a few times, cooling it down. He smiled then moved it towards Nadine's mouth, she giggled and opened her mouth and accepted Vyse's offering.

"Mmmm… that is good stew." said Nadine as she chewed, "That girl's something else. She's an excellent medic and she can cook really well."

Vyse nodded, "You're lucky it was me who got stuck with you guys." said Fina as she entered the room. "If you'd of been stuck with Gina, you'd of been on your own for cooking, she can't cook at all. And Mina… well let's just say you don't want to ever try her cooking. She'll just throw a bunch of stuff together in the weirdest combinations and call that supper.

For example, Once, when it was her turn to cook for the three of us, she prepared spaghetti topped with broccoli and plum sauce and called that supper… let's just say I went to bed hungry that night."

"Wow… talk about lucky. We got the best cook and medic out of the three siblings." said Vyse, Nadine quickly nodded in agreement.

Fina then sat down beside Nadine and quickly checked her pulse, and other vitals. And carefully checked her eyes and felt her forehead for a fever.

"A bit of a fever, but not as high as I might of expected and all your other vitals are good." said Fina, "Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen someone recover this quickly before, it's astonishing actually."

"Thanks, Vyse helped me out a lot last night, told me some things that helped me set my mind on getting better and getting stronger."

"Oh… what kind of things??" asked Fina

"Uh…. Truth be told, I'm not supposed to talk about it, family secrets." said Vyse.

"Oh, ok, I understand." Fina replied, "Whatever you told her, it seems to be working quite well. She's looking a lot better and recovering a lot faster then I had expected."

Vyse yawned tiredly, "Still out of it Vyse??" Fina asked

Vyse stretched his arms out to his sides, stretching his back, arms and other muscles. "Yeah, a little bit I guess." said Vyse.

Fina smiled, "Well there's a lake close by, just thought… maybe you guy's would like to take a dip. We may not get another chance to once we go back to being soldiers and head off to Naggiar."

Nadine looked at Vyse and smiled, "Sure."

Vyse nodded, "Yeah, best to take golden opportunities like this when they come." Vyse replied and he quickly spooned in two more mouthfuls of the delicious stew, sat up and began to get dressed. Once he was ready, he ran to the bathroom and grabbed a handful of towels for the three of them. He, Nadine and Fina then left the house and first walked to the general store, it was deserted, but they still found what they were looking for.

Fina chose a red and white, 1 piece swim suit and Nadine picked a dark blue, 1 piece swim suit, the color was similar to her hair and eye color. Vyse found a pair of blue and red swimming trunks and picked them out for himself. Once everyone had what they wanted, they walked up to the counter and left a note explaining what they had taken and left a small pile of Ducat coins to pay for their items.

The trio then headed for the nearby lake, the sun was shining, and no clouds were in the sky. Small birds were singing in the trees, it was a very peaceful, calm day. It was almost like there was no war as the three walked together, but the uniforms they wore reminded them the war was still in fact going on everywhere, but here it seemed so much more distant.

Once they arrived the girls headed off to some nearby bushes to change into their swimwear, Vyse went in the other direction and found a tree to change behind. He quickly removed his uniform and changed into his swimming trunks.

He piled his clothes neatly together and threw the towel he brought over his shoulder and walked barefoot towards the lake, whistling and smiling as he went. He then waited by a nearby dock, the clear water of the large, round lake glistened in the sun as it lapped against the shore.

Vyse heard some rustling nearby, so he turned and saw Nadine and Fina coming out from the bushes, both had the large towels wrapped around their bodies. As they got closer Vyse could see that both of them were blushing, their cheeks rosy red.

Fina gulped loudly and removed her towel, nervously placing her hands behind her back and looking down at the ground. "Do I look… ok??" she asked, the swim suit certainly did suit her. The red and the white reminded Vyse of the same red and white medical patch Fina wore on her arm and uniform, signifying she was a medic.

"Yeah, looks great on you Fina, the colors suits you well since you're a medic." said Vyse

Nadine was next; she removed her towel and looked up at Vyse, nervously twirling her finger through one side of her hair. "It's been so long since I've worn one of these, or went swimming… I'm not too pale looking in this, am I??"

Vyse looked her up and down and smiled, "Nope, you look perfect."

Nadine smiled and nodded, "Thanks, Vyse." she said, "Oh… aren't you going to take off your eye patch??"

"Nope, this stays on no matter what I'm doing." Vyse said, "Whether I'm in my blue rogue's uniform or in my Gallian militia uniform, fighting or showering, it stays on."

Fina laughed, "Haha, you really are a pirate, born and true."

Vyse laughed loudly then grinned at the girls, "Now come on, last one in is a rotten egg!!" Vyse shouted. He then took off running down the long wooden dock, once he reached the end he leapt high into the air, tucking his legs up into his chest and wrapping his arms around his legs in a cannonball dive.

He created a gigantic splash that sent water high up into the air and in all directions from where he entered the water. It actually splashed the girls on the dock, they screamed in surprise at how cold the water felt. But it didn't seem to bother Vyse as he resurfaced, throwing his head back, his hair flying back as well, spraying water all over the place. He laughed loudly and looked at the girls who were still standing at the edge of the dock, arms wrapped around their bodies, shivering.

"Well, aren't you coming in, the waters perfect!!" Vyse shouted, laughing loudly once again.

Fina looked at Nadine and smiled; she slowly walked to the edge of the dock and dipped her right foot in first, testing the waters temperature. Once she was sure it wasn't too cold she jumped into the water with a loud squeal of glee. Nadine smiled and immediately followed her in.

The three friends then got together, looking at each other and smiling and laughing. Fina then splashed some water towards Vyse, he splashed her back and Nadine joined in too. And for a few minutes they laughed, swam and enjoyed their brief respite from the rest of the squad and the war in general.

But Vyse suddenly stopped swimming and slowly kicked his legs and moving his arms in the water, treading in place in the lake. He was looking down at the waters surface, deep in thought, no longer laughing or smiling.

Nadine swam up, next to Vyse and looked at him, "Something wrong, Vyse??"

Fina swam up to Vyse as well, "Yeah, you look like you've got something on your mind."

Vyse raised his head and looked back up at Nadine and Fina, "What are we doing here??"

Fina and Nadine finally realized what he meant and they too felt a little bit ashamed at their carefree attitude and behaviour at a time like this, during a bloody war.

"Here we are, swimming, having so much fun… and right now, Aika is in the stockades, and the rest of the squad is working their butts off back at Fort Amatirian, preparing to move out to Naggiar for a massive showdown against the Imperial army."

"Y-you're right Vyse, we're soldiers after all… we should be back there helping everyone else get ready to head to Naggiar." Nadine said

"Yeah, he's right." Fina said next, she looked up at the sky and saw that it was getting dark. "It's kind of late to head back to base; we'll never make it back before dark."

Vyse finally smiled once more, "Alright, then it's settled. First thing tomorrow morning, we'll pack up and head back to Base, but for now… let's just have some fun!!"

The girls laughed in response and everyone went back to swimming, laughing and having the time of their lives, together. Given how far into the war they had made it, all the battles they had won. It probably didn't match up for what was still to come, possibly worse fighting then anything they've ever encountered before. So with that in mind and their only opportunity to have fun like this together, they enjoyed the brief 1 peaceful day they were given, before they had to head back into the fray_._

_----------_

_**Hey Readers, thanks for reading up to this chapter so far. It's hard to believe that I've been working on and writing this fanfic for over a year now... doesn't seem like that long ago that I started this fanfic from scratch. Thanks to everyone for sticking with this for over a year. I've decided that if I get to 100 reviews, then as a thank you and reward I'll write a omake or beach scene with the entire squad taking R&R at a beach, like in the game but with everyone in it, not just the main canon characters.**_

_**I've got afew funny ideas and squad member pairings and scenarios for the beach chapter if I get to 100 reviews**_.


	46. Chapter 46

**Chapter 46- Call to action**

It was very early in the morning, near 6:00 A.M. to be exact, Fina was already up. Her life as a medic had her get used to waking up early to care for the wounded. She was already dressed and was just finishing up straightening her uniform. Once that was taken care of she slowly tip toed towards the bedroom where Vyse and Nadine were and knocked on the door. She then slowly opened it and saw Nadine in the bed, Vyse curled up, sleeping on the floor, pillow and blanket on the ground with him.

Vyse slowly sat up, rubbing his eyes and yawning, "Is it morning already??"

Fina nodded, "Yes, Sorry to wake you up so early in the morning, but the sooner we get packed up and head off, the sooner we can get back to base."

Vyse scratched the top of his head and nodded tiredly, "Alright, I understand." Vyse said, slowly standing up and hurriedly throwing on his uniform and walking over to Nadine's bed side. He reached out and slowly shook her by the shoulder, she moaned and looking up at Vyse.

"Come on Nadine, time to get up. We're moving out soon." he said.

"So soon??" she asked, slowly sitting up and yawning.

"Yes, we have to get back to base." Vyse said, "So get dressed and be ready to leave in 10 minutes time."

And Vyse walked out with Fina, the two of them left the house and looked around. It was windy, cloudy and a lot cooler that morning then it was yesterday. And as Vyse and Fina walked around the abandoned town, Fina turned to him and asked.

"So just how do we get back to base, wasn't the idea that the squad would come by and pick us up the next day??"

"Yes, but I think our time would be better well spent getting back to base and helping out in any way that we can." Vyse replied.

Nearby Fina spotted a three wheeled truck with an empty flatbed. "Hey Vyse, over here!!" she said, running towards the truck and sticking her head into the open window.

"Keys are still inside, looks like it was just left here in the evacuation… think the owners would mind if we borrow it for awhile??"

"No, I don't think they'd mind lending it to a few Militia soldiers, but just to be sure, I'll leave a note." Vyse said. He reached into a back pouch and retrieving a notepad and pencil from his survival pack. He quickly scribbled a note explaining where the vehicle was taken, to Fort Amatirain and that it would be there if they wanted to retrieve it. He then ran to the front door of the house, where the truck was parked against and stuck the note on the window. Fina meanwhile was in the driver's seat and she started the truck up, it sputtered for a moment, then the engine began to glow bright blue and remained glowing so long as the truck remained running.

"Ok, let's go." Vyse said, and he ran back to the truck and hopped into the passenger side seat. Fina shifted the gear into drive and drove back to the house where Nadine was.

Once they arrived, Vyse hopped out and went inside to get her. "Hey Nadine, It's time to go!!" Vyse called out. Nadine came around the corner, carrying her engineering pack and backpack in hand.

Vyse was rubbing his hands together, blowing air into his palms as well. "It's kind of chilly out there today." he said.

"Oh is it… wait here, just one a moment." Nadine said, and she dropped her stuff and ran to the back of the house, coming back moments later with a light coloured folded up cloak in hand. She smiled and handed it to Vyse, "This should help keep you warm."

Vyse took it from her and unfolded it, it was a long cloak, with a large hood and was the same color as Isara's shawl was and had the Darcsen pattern sown all along the edges of the cloak and around the hood.

"Oh, this is… a Darcsen cloak??" He asked. Nadine nodded her head and smiled.

"I-if you don't want to wear it, I'll understand." Nadine said nervously, "I mean, other people may not like you wearing it, because it is a Darcsen clothing item after all."

Vyse just smiled, "No problem, I have no trouble wearing it. Since you and I are now an item, I'll gladly wear it." and Vyse put it on, Nadine smiled and tied it up for him, taking his hands in her. Vyse bent down and he kissed her, she wrapped her arms around the back of his neck and kissed him back.

"Thank you Vyse, I'm so glad you're always so understanding and caring." she said.

Vyse smiled and nodded, "Come on, let's get back to base. I'm sure Lynn and Wavy will be happy to know that you're feeling better when we get back."

"Yeah, I hope they're not too mad about… what I've been doing behind their backs."

"I don't think they will, they're your friends, they'll understand, I'm sure of it."

"Ok, I'm ready to go back then." Nadine said, Vyse nodded and opened the door for her, taking half of her Engineering supplies and carrying it for her to the waiting truck that Fina was in. Once all of the supplies were in the back, all three of them climbed into the cabin.

"Alright Fina, take us back to base!!" Vyse said, pointing in the direction of Fort Amatirain and laughing loudly. Fina smiled, put the truck into gear and left the small house they stayed in, driving out of town soon after and heading down the gravel road leading back to Fort Amatirain.

* * *

Sometime later, it was nearing 9:00 A.M. and Aika heard someone once again, tapping on the bars of her cell, Aika slowly woke up. "_Oh great… here we go again…_" she thought to herself, not liking the idea of having to be escorted back to the showers and watched the whole time yet again. But upon turning around she saw Captain Varrot standing there.

"Oh, Captain Varrot!" Aika said, quickly standing up and saluting her commander. Varrot returned the salute, but had a worried look on her face.

"Aika, The Imperial army is gathering much faster and in greater numbers on the plains of Naggiar then we had anticipated before." Varrot said, unlocking her cell at the same time. "The entire regiments time before we move out has been move up 24 hours, so we can't wait for Vyse or Nadine to come back or send someone to pick them up in time. So I'm putting you in charge of Vyse's squad and informing the rest of the squad about what is happening. It's your duty now, since you are the next highest rank."

The door to Aika's cell opened up and Varrot entered it, "Now go, return to the squad and inform them of what I just told you."

Aika was getting nervous, for she had never seen Captain Varrot look that worried before, and she was even putting her in charge of breaking the news to the squad that they would be moving out earlier then expected. More over, she'd be taking over her best friend, Vyse's squad, and that meant leading other's into battle, not something that she ever wanted to do, she didn't think she could be like Vyse in a situation like that.

But Aika had a duty to uphold, it was what her rank of Corporal was all about. So she put on a brave face and saluted Captain Varrot once more, "Yes Ma'am, you can count on me!!"

Captain Varrot then stepped aside, letting Aika walk past her. She then headed towards the exit. But stopped once she passed Marina Wulfstans cell, she must of heard everything that was said, being so close. But she was still lying in her bed, staring up at the ceiling, hands resting on top of her stomach.

Aika looked at her, then turned to Captain Varrot, "Ma'am, what about Marina… she's probably the best sniper in the entire regiment. Shouldn't we let her out and come with us??"

Varrot look at Aika and shook her head, "You don't think I've asked her time and time again if she wants to return to active duty status. She doesn't, but I can't just let her out if she's not willing to fight."

Aika walked up to Marina's cell door, took hold of the bars and brought her face close to them. "Marina, won't you please join us at Naggiar?? With your talent as a sniper I'm sure you can be of great help to us."

"…No…" Marina replied in a cold, emotionless tone.

"But why??" Aika asked, "Surely you don't want to spend the rest of the war in here, not when you could be helping us fight the Empire." Marina just rolled over in her bed and faced the wall, turning her back to Aika.

"You're wasting your time Aika, I've already asked her the same thing, over and over." said Varrot, "Her will to fight is completely broken. I've even gone so far as to offer dropping the charges and court marshal against her, but she still won't fight."

"But…" Aika said

"Enough, come on, you have a duty to attend to. Report back to the squad, NOW!!" Varrot ordered and she left ahead of Aika to continue her duties elsewhere.

Aika looked back at Marina and sighed, but just as she turned to leave. "Wait…Aika…"

Aika turned back and looked at Marina, who was now sitting up in her bunk. She slowly got up and walked towards the bars. "Will you do something for me…" she asked, avoiding eye contact.

"Of course Marina, anything I can do to help." Aika said, moving back to the cell door.

"In my foot locker, there's an item that I'd like you to bring me." Marina instructed, she then leaned forward and whispered her locker combination and described the item that she wanted Aika to bring her.

Aika nodded, "Ok, I'll bring it back as soon as I can." Aika said and she turned on her heels and took off in a sprint towards the exit. As she got near the doors, she saw Varrot unlocking Montley Leonards door and saw him step out, so she stopped.

"You're released, so long as you return to your duty as a soldier and fight for us at Naggiar." Varrot said, Montley nodded and saluted Captain Varrot.

"Yes Ma'am, you have my word."

Montley then turned and saw Aika; he grinned at her and motioned with his head towards the exit. "Come on, bet you I can beat you back to the barracks in a race, I've been wanting to stretch my legs and run since forever!!"

Aika chuckled, "I don't know about that, I'm a pretty good runner myself.", Montley and Aika got into a running start position, "GO!" and they both took off running as fast as they could back to Squad 7's barracks. Montley was fast, but so was Aika and they remained side by side for nearly the whole race. But Aika's endurance won her the race as Montley fell back at the end for just a moment.

Aika then burst through the doors to the barracks, some members were cleaning their weapons, others were checking to make sure they had all of their equipment in check, and others were cleaning their uniforms or battle armour.

A few of the members were surprised to see Aika back; others were even more surprised to see Montley by Aika's side.

"Montley!" said Susie, clearly surprised.

A few of the squad members began to whisper amongst themselves, clearly everyone remembered what he was arrested for earlier and it seemed there was still some bad feelings towards it still.

Aika wiped her forehead with her sleeve and took a deep breath, "Listen up guys, our order to move out has been advanced ahead by 24 hours. The Imperial army is gathering much faster and in greater numbers then the higher ups anticipated on the plains of Naggiar.

So I'm going to need all of you to be ready to move out by Noon, no later, understood?"

There was slight pause before everyone said "Yes Ma'am" in unison. Aika could see that not all eyes were on her, most were looking past her at Montley Leonard as he stood just slightly behind her.

So she reached back, taking Montley by the arm and bringing him forward, she put her hands on his shoulders. "Montley has decided to rejoin the squad, to help us fight against the Empire once more. So I ask that you do not give him a hard time, he realizes the error of what he did at Bruhl and wishes to make up for it. I say we give him another chance!!"

This time not everyone said "Yes Ma'am" in unison, the response was scattered all across the barracks with only a few members saying so. Aika didn't bother trying to make everyone agree and say so, but she had a feeling that they would listen to her orders.

"That is all, be ready to move out by noon today, understood?!" Aika shouted in a clear, commanding voice that even surprised her. Everyone smiled, and saluted Aika "Yes, Ma'am!!"

"Members of Sgt. Inglebard's squad, report to me!!" Aika said next.

And the members that made up his squad, which were Alex, Lynn, Wavy, Hector, Yoko and Oscar came forward and gathered around Aika. "Alright, since Vyse isn't here, I'll be taking over as squad leader. Are there any objections??"

Aika looked around but no one said anything, she smiled, "Thank you, I'll do my best to fill in as Squad leader, I hope we all work well together out there."

"Any friend of Vyse's is a friend of mine, I'll gladly follow you into battle." said Alex

"That goes for me too." said Lynn, shaking Aika's hand.

"You lead, I'll follow." Wavy said next, the other's nodded in response and smiled.

"Thanks guys, you really help me feel more at ease about having to lead." Aika said.

She then departed and headed over to Marina Wulfstans foot locker, located at the front of her bed. But as she got near it she saw Montley attempting to talk to Elysse Moore.

"Ah… Get away!" she said in her slow manner of speaking and walked away, clearly she still didn't like Montley for his actions he took at Bruhl.

Montley looked sad by her response, so Aika walked up to him and put her hand on his shoulder, "Hey, I'm sure she'll come around eventually, it must be hard coming back to the squad and hoping things to be the same..."

"Yeah, guess I'll just have to be patient… not something I'm particularly good at…" and he went back to his bed to prepare to move out.

Aika then went back to Marina's foot locker and bent down; checking to make sure no one was looking as she put in her locker combination and unlocked it, taking the lock off moments later and opening the lid.

The inside was very plain and very organized. There were no magazines, papers or anything other personal affects like the other squad members had in their foot lockers. Just her standard issue tooth brush, comb, wash cloth, soap and other toiletries, tools to clean and maintain her sniper rifle neatly piled in the corner. And in the middle she found what she was looking for, a silver, rectangular shaped tin container with a sealed lid.

Aika then reached in and picked up the container and left the squad barracks with it in her hands, once she pushed her way through the doors leading out of the barracks and took 3 or 4 quick steps she stopped dead in her tracks.

"_Wait a minute… what am I doing_??" she asked herself, eyes looking down at the container in her hands. "_I don't know what's in here and yet I'm willing to take it to Marina and hand it over_."

Her mind began to spin and panic and worry began to set in, "_What if there's a handgun or grenade or…s-some other type of weapon in here and I take it to her… what if its some kind of tools to help her break out of prison… why would I just take something like that to her_."

She looked over both shoulders and didn't see anyone near by, she then squatted down and set the tin container in front of her, then placed her hand against her chin, thinking long and hard.

"_Maybe… I should take a look, see what's inside_." She thought, "_I mean, after all it could be something dangerous or something to help her break out of prison. I wouldn't want to be held responsible for that_."

And Aika picked up the container and got ready to open it, but stopped. "_Wait… what if it's something harmless, or something very personal. Then I'd be invading her privacy if I looked inside…. Still_…"

And Aika finally decided to open it and see, just to be certain it would be safe to give to her. So she carefully and very slowly opened the lid, bringing it close to her face and bringing her eye as close to the tiny opening as she could.

But once she had it open, a wavy of relief and a little bit of sadness crept into her head, "_Oh… this is_…"

Aika closed her eyes and nodded, "_I see, there's no harm in taking this to her now I think_." she thought and she sealed the lid back on and ran towards the stockades.

Once she was there, she walked up to the front desk, the guard spotting her and standing up.

"What can I do for you Ma'am??" he asked.

"I have to see Marina Wulfstan; I've got something that I need to deliver to her." Aika said, placing the small container on the counter in front of her.

"Prisoners usually aren't allowed gifts." the guard said.

"It's not a gift, it's an item she wishes to be delivered to her, she belongs to my squad and I'm the Corporal of that squad."

"Alright, just let me have a look first." said the guard, moving his hands towards the box, but Aika pulled it away and held onto it.

"There's nothing dangerous inside, I've already inspected it and made sure of that myself." Aika said.

The guard just shook his head, "Fine, but if anything bad happens as a result of her having received that box, I'll point the guards in your direction and tell them it was you who gave it to her."

"Nothing bad will happen, trust me." Aika said confidently.

"Alright, I'll escort you to her cell." he replied, he got up and walked around to the front of the counter and lead the way as Aika followed behind him, holding on tightly to the silver container.

Moments later they reached her cell and the guard left, Aika walked up to the bars. "Hey Marina, I got what you wanted. Sorry it took so long."

Marina didn't reply, she just got up from her bed and walked up to the bars, holding her hands out. Aika nodded and carefully slide the box in sideways, through the bars until it was in Marina's hands.

And Aika thought she saw the slightest smile form on Marina's mouth for a mere instant, but when she looked back up, her face was plain and emotionless again, but she nodded to Aika and said "…Thank you…"

Aika felt a little sad for her, "No problem." she said, and she was just about to leave, but stopped and looked into the cell. Marina had already walked back to her bunk and was sitting on it, staring down at the container sitting on her lap.

"Did you open it??" Marina asked softly

Aika gulped, "Y-yes I-I did. Just to make sure it was safe to bring in here… you understand right??" she answered honestly.

"Tell no one, of what you saw." Marina said.

Aika nodded, "Alright, I promise I won't." and Aika left Marina and walked back towards the exit.

* * *

Marina closed her eyes and listened very carefully, hearing Aika's boots echoing in the empty passage way of the holding cells. They got softer and softer as Aika got further and further, and when she heard the door swing up and echo loudly as it shut, she finally opened her eyes again and looked down at the silver container in her lap.

Now, with no prying eyes around, she reached down and held onto it with one hand and removed the lid with the other. She set the lid on top of her bed, and then reached inside.

She then ever so slowly picked up and raised the little brown Teddy bear that was inside close to her face. A gift that she had received during the Feast of all Spirits day, it was from Ted, the first and only person she had ever received such a gift from. She set the container on the other side of her bed and brought the teddy bear up towards her chest, wrapping both arms around it and hugging it tightly against her chest.

She reached down and pressed the little red heart the bear was holding in it's paws, and the tiny heart opened up and the music box insie began to play that soft, slow tune as the clock hands ticked away. She brought her head down and rested her forehead against the soft wool of the Teddy bear as she slowly rocked herself back and forth, listening to the tune, at the same time thinking about Ted. His smile, his attempts at making her laugh or smile. The way he used to try and follow her around like a little lost puppy. And how he so willingly gave his life to protect her. Something she never ever thought she'd see or have someone do for her. When she brought her head back up, there was a single teardrop running down her cheek that had fallen from her right violet coloured eye.

"_What should I do_…" she thought to herself, looking down and softly petting the Teddy Bears head.

She looked over at the container and reached in with her left hand, retrieving a black and white photo of her at a much younger age, with her father by her side. There was a log cabin in the background, massive trees behind it and a fire pit with a pot in front of the Cabin. Marina's father, Murdock Wulfstan had a hunting rifle slung over his shoulder and an arm wrapped around his young daughter's shoulders. She was holding up a dead rabbit by the ears and had a smaller rifle slung around her tiny shoulders.

Marina looked down at the photo and sighed, "Father… what should I do…" she thought, though she never said or showed it. She did take Aika's plea into consideration and was thinking about the idea of picking up her rifle once more and fighting.

But still, she felt sad over the loss of Ted, her one and only friend. The death of Nancy Dufour and failing her duty to protect her squad mates, when one of her squad mates died as a result of a tripping a booby trap she had set up still troubled her deeply. It made her feel that despite all of the lives that she had saved up to that point, it was taking the life of one of her own that had broken her spirit and her will to fight, probably forever.


	47. Chapter 47

**Chapter 47- First day of Hell**

The green forests of outer Randgriz were coming into view, Fina, Vyse and Nadine smiled as they drove down the familiar gravel road leading into the base, which was now located just a few miles away. But as the truck bounced along, Fina was forced to slow down and move to the far right side of the road, for coming towards them was a Gallian tank. Fina slowed down a little bit more and Vyse, Nadine and Fina looked at the long convoy of tanks, troop transport trucks, supply and medical trucks that was quickly driving past them.

"What's going on?" Fina asked, "I thought the regiment wasn't scheduled to leave until tomorrow??"

Vyse got a bad feeling, "Come on Fina, we have to get back to base as fast as we can. Something tells me we made the right choice by deciding to head back early."

And with that Fina pushed the accelerator pedal down to the floor and quickly moved past the convoy, onwards towards Fort Amatirain. A few minutes later they had arrived, in time to see another squad leaving the base, tanks, trucks and supply trucks galore moving out. It was the largest military activity the base had seen since the war had started.

As Fina drove the truck down the line of barracks, Vyse and Nadine looked out either side of the windows. And every single barracks on either side of the road was buzzing with activity. There were troops loading supplies into trucks, boarding troop transports, doing last minutes checks of their weapons and supplies.

The truck then stopped next to the barracks of Squad 7, which was also in the process of getting ready to move out. So Fina let Vyse and Nadine out, and then she drove off, for she had to report back to the hospital to see where she was needed.

Welkin was near the entrance to the barracks, talking to Alicia, Largo and Rosie, going over the last few details of the plan before it was their turn to move out. Vyse quickly walked up to Welkin and saluted him.

He could see that Welkin and everyone else was clearly surprised to see him back, and that he had returned on his own.

"Vyse… what are you doing here??" Welkin asked, chuckling and shaking Vyse's hand.

"Nadine recovered a lot more quickly then expected, so we decided to come back early and see how we could help." said Vyse, he then looked around. "What's going on??"

"The regiments order to move out has been pushed ahead by 24 hours, so we're leaving very soon, to the plains of Naggiar. The regulars are already there and we're leaving by Squad number, Squads 1-5 are already on the move, and we'll be moving out within the hour." Welkin explained, but he stopped and looked past Vyse, at a girl who was walking towards him.

"Juno!?" Welkin exclaimed, Juno nodded and quickened her pace until she ran straight into Welkin, wrapping her arms around him.

"Welkin, I've come back to help you." Juno said, "News reached Rangdriz, where I was staying, Something about a massive gathering of Imperial soldiers and armour in the plains of Naggiar. An emergency draft was called and all those of the new qualifying age were called to active service.

But upon hearing the news, I decided it best to come back to the squad; you're going to need all the soldiers you can get now, am I right??"

Welkin chuckled happily and hugged Juno again, "Thank you Juno, it's great to have you back."

Vyse smiled at the reunion, he then stepped forward, "If you'd like Juno, I will relinquish command of 1st squad and return squad leader status back to you." Vyse offered.

Juno held up her hand and shook her head, "Oh no, no thank you." Juno said, "I've been there and blew it.", she turned to Welkin and smiled, "I'm just here to fight."

"Speaking of which, I'm sure your good friend Aika will be relieved to see you back. Captain Varrot placed her in charge of your squad while you were away." Welkin said, he pointed to the barracks, "Best go see her right away."

Vyse nodded and headed inside, Nadine following right behind him. He saw Aika, with his squad gathered around her. She was going through instructions on a clipboard, but she was so focused on her task that she didn't even see or notice Vyse just yet.

He smiled and walked towards her, and as he got closer, someone finally noticed him. "Vyse!!" Alex exclaimed, very surprised to see the squad leader back.

"What??" Aika said, looking back at Alex, then at Vyse, who he was pointing at. And she dropped the clipboard, her mouth falling open next. Vyse just smiled and held his arms out.

"VYSE!!" Aika cried, running towards him and wrapping her arms around him, squeezing him tight in a bear hug. "I am SO glad that you are back, how on earth did you get here? We weren't supposed to pick you up until tomorrow."

Vyse chuckled, "Well it looks like Nadine and I made the right choice to come back early, we just got word that the squad is moving out within the next hour."

Aika's face showed worry, "Yeah, the regiment's already moving out as we speak." Aika said, but she stepped aside, "But since you're back, I return the status of squad leader back to you."

"Thanks" Vyse said, he then stood in front of his squad, looking at his squad mates and smiling, "It's good to be back, sorry we were gone for so long and that I almost missed being there to lead all of you."

Everyone shook their head and accepted Vyse's apology, "So, what's the plan now??"

"Aika has already made all of the preparations and now we're just waiting till we're called to move out." Alex said.

Lynn smiled and nodded, "Yes, she took care of all the details on her own and we're ready to leave when called."

Vyse was impressed, "Really, that's awesome. Good job Aika baby." said Vyse, giving a thumbs up in her direction.

Just then someone patted him on the shoulder, "Hey Vyse, good to see you again!!" Montley said, smiling and walking away.

Vyse looked at him, then at Aika, "Wow… we did miss a lot. When did he get out??" Vyse asked.

"Just this morning, Captain Varrot released me early and then Montley. The Captain needs all of the soldiers that she can get to fight at the upcoming battle of Naggiar." Aika said, Vyse nodded his head, then placed his hand against his chin.

"So is Marina out then as well??" Vyse asked, but Aika shook her head.

"No… and I don't think she'll be getting out, she's refusing to fight anymore, I don't know why, but she just won't do it." said Aika.

Vyse lowered his head and shook it back and forth, "Hmmm… there must be something we can do??" Vyse pondered, he then turned to Nadine.

"Nadine, go get Captain Varrot and bring her to the stockades. I'm going over there to speak with her." said Vyse, Nadine smiled and nodded.

"Sure thing, Vyse." and she gave Vyse a quick kiss on the cheek before she took off.

Aika's eyes nearly popped out of her head with how wide she had opened them in surprise. "And… just what was that all about??" Aika asked, she then looked down and finally noticed what Vyse was wearing, a Darcsen cloak.

Vyse gulped, "Listen, let's walk and talk, shall we??" Vyse said, all of his squad mates staring at him and Aika.

The duo then left the barracks and began to walk towards the stockades. "Listen Aika, Nadine and I have… become a couple. It's kind of hard to describe how things worked out like this, but they did."

Aika shook her head, "I see…" she said in a displeased manner.

"Look Aika, I'm sorry, but Nadine just seems so lonely, like she has no one else. You had to have been there to see just how much she was suffering. It was a hard thing to watch as she was going through Ragnaid withdrawal, and she talked about how much she was hurting inside, from emotional pain, things that have always been bothering her."

"Ok…" Aika said, still staring straight ahead as the two continued walking.

"And I… offered to bring her back with us to Arcadia, once this war is over."

"WHAT!?!" Aika shouted, so loud it seemed to echo across the base; she then grabbed Vyse by the arm and stopped him in his tracks, turning him till he was facing her. "Ok, stop right there Vyse. I can handle pretty much everything you've said up until now. But that's way past ok; you made a promise to Dyne, never to reveal anything about our homeland to anyone outside of Arcadia. It was what we agreed on before we left you know."

"What else would you have me do, I think she needs to get out of here, see the world, like we have. She needs to know that this isn't all there is to life. That there are other places out there that will accept her for what she is, and where she won't face racism and discrimination all her life… come Aika, she's our friend."

Aika shook her head, "Alright, I'll go with your decision. It's what I've been doing all my life anyways. Why should this be any different." said Aika, Vyse attempted to open his mouth again but Aika raised her hand and stopped him before he could even make a sound.

"Look, just concentrate on what you're going to do with Marina. Captain Varrot and I have both tried to convince her to fight again, but nothing either of us said worked." said Aika.

The two then reached the stockades, signed in and Aika lead Vyse to Marina's cell. She was sitting on her bed once again, the tin box was sealed again and sitting on her lap as she held onto it. She slowly turned her head and saw Vyse standing there, with Aika by his side.

Marina looked at Vyse and saw his new rank, which she hadn't seen yet. "Sgt. Inglebard… your turn to lecture me now??"

Vyse shook his head; Captain Varrot and Nadine entered the holding cell room at the same time and walked towards Marina's cell which had Vyse and Aika already standing outside of it.

"No Marina, We've come for your help. We want you to rejoin the squad and help us fight at Naggiar." said Vyse "It's going to be the biggest battle of the entire war, all of Gallia's army and the Militia will be there, as well as the entire Imperial invasion forces. We need to stop the Imperial invasion army at Naggiar, once and for all."

Marina just closed her eyes and dropped her head, "You don't think I care do you… go do it yourselves."

Vyse turned to Varrot and noticed the keys for Marinas cell in her hand; he walked up to her and held out his hand and gave her a serious look. She knew what he want, so she nodded and handed him the keys.

He then turned back and move up to her cell door, unlocked it and the door began to slide open, "Hmmm…" said Marina, turning her head and watching Vyse enter her cell.

"No, I'm not leaving until you agree to come along." Vyse said, Marina looked surprised by his statement, "I said I would never leave a squad mate behind, and I will not depart for Naggiar and Gallia's biggest battle without our best sniper.

Don't you get it Marina, we need you. Your rifle alone can save hundreds of lives with your deadly accuracy. I know you've always been able to take out machine gun nests, enemy snipers or any other danger to our squad as we advanced through all of the previous battlefields. And it's you that I want to cover our backs at Naggiar, There's no one I trust more to watch out for us then you."

Marina dropped her head again, "I wasn't able to save Ted or Nancy's lives at Bruhl, they died because of me…"

Captain Varrot sighed, "I was hoping you'd tell us yourself, but I know what happened to Ted, Marina. Ted did not die as a result of your booby trap; he died inside of the house, as a result of multiple stab wounds, received at the hands of that deadly elite anti-sniper unit known as the Oka Nieba."

It was the first time anyone had ever heard about what really happened at Bruhl, Vyse looked at Marina. "Is that true Marina??"

Marina just slowly nodded her head, "But still… no matter how I think of it, I killed him in the end. I… never thought someone would ever come back to save me when I was in trouble, I thought I was on my own, so I did what I needed to, to protect myself from an enemy ambush. I set booby traps all around the house, they worked, and I killed two of the soldiers who were after me. But… one of our own died as well.

If Ted would have just returned to the squad to seek medical attention when he was hurt by the blast… or not of come at all, he'd still be alive."

Vyse nodded, "I don't think he would have ever forgiven himself, if you got hurt or died because he didn't do everything that he could to make sure you were safe first."

"It's what friends do, Marina." Aika added. She looked down at the tin container that Marina was still holding onto, she remembered what was inside. "And I know that Ted cared about you a great deal, I don't think he would want to see you give up on life or the squad."

"I think he died a heroes death, the most noble of deaths, which is to die saving a friends life." Vyse said, "If not for Gallia or the Militia, then fight for Ted. Fight and win back his homeland for him, fight to protect those he left behind; fight to protect his squad mates, his 2nd family."

Unlike all the other attempts to get her to fight, Marina didn't immediately dismiss this attempt by Vyse. But she still remained quiet and was still looking down at the floor of her cell.

"You really want me back on the squad…" Marina asked.

Vyse nodded and knelt down on one knee, now eye level with Marina, "Please… I'm begging you to help us, Marina."

Marina slowly raised her head up and looked Vyse in the eye, then turned to everyone else who was watching, waiting, hoping. She looked back at Vyse, "You're serious…?"

Vyse stood back up and nodded; he then held his hand out, not saying a word, but looking down at her with a determined look in his eyes. Marina closed her eyes and lowered her head for a moment, thinking deeply. She then opened her eyes and reached out with her right hand, taking hold of Vyses awaiting hand. Vyse smiled and helped lift her up and out of her bed, till she was standing just in front of him.

Aika couldn't help but smile brightly, as did Nadine. Varrot crossed her arms across her chest and smiled, very impressed that Vyse was able to do what no one else could, and get Marina to agree to fight again.

Vyse then turned to Captain Varrot, "Captain, I officially request that Marina Wulfstan be transferred directly to my squad, I want her as my sniper."

"Very well, she's yours from this moment on, and I know that you'll take very good care of her." said Varrot and she backed out of the cell and began to leave.

Marina took the first few steps out of her cell for the first time in weeks. Vyse smiled, "Your fee now, now we can all depart for Naggiar… together."

Marina nodded and turned back to Vyse, "And so it is done… from this moment on, I will follow you into battle, even to death. And help Gallia defeat the Empire… for Ted's sake."

Vyse smiled once again and started to leave the stockades, Marina following right beside him, "Thanks Marina, it's good to have you back. I know that if we all work together we can do it, we can beat the Empire, once and for all."

Meanwhile, Aika smiled and sighed happily, "I'll never understand how he does it. How he always gets any situation to work out for the better, when no one else could."

"I don't think our squad would have come this far, without a natural born leader like Vyse Inglebard… he seems to be the heart and soul of the entire squad, the tie that binds us all together. I'd hate to think about where we'd all be by now, if the two of you didn't decide to join us." Nadine added.

Vyse then lead everyone back Squad 7's barracks, he paused at the door and turned to Marina. "Marina… not everyone might be as warm and welcoming as I was when it comes to rejoining the squad."

Marina slowly shook her head, "I'm here to follow you now, I don't care what other's think, or what other's feel."

"Don't worry, I'm sure they'll welcome you back eventually, might just take some time after not seeing you for so long." Aika offered

"Let's just go." Marina said plainly, Vyse nodded and pushed his way through the doors and entered the barracks. And it was as if someone flipped a switch that made every single person in the barracks turn silent.

But Marina didn't care, she just walked down the row of bunks and proceeded directly to her bed and retrieved her sniper rifle that was under her bed, which was inside a big, black, locked suitcase. Once she opened the locks, she slowly raised the lid, looking down at her sniper rifle, which had been untouched for weeks. And it was as if it was her first time ever seeing it, it seemed almost foreign now. She picked it up and turned it over and over in her hands, inspecting every detail of it. She ran her hand up and down the stock, along the barrel and around the trigger guard. She raised it up and pressed the butt stock against her shoulder, resting her cheek against the stock and looking through the telescopic scope, then opening and closing the action bolt a few times, getting used to the weight, feel and parts of the rifle once again.

Once that was all done, she lowered the rifle and brought it close to her, resting her head against the telescopic scope and tightening her grip around it. "I missed you…" she whispered, for it felt like she had gotten back a part of herself that was lost, when the rifle was no longer in her possession, while she was locked up in the stockades.

Nearly everyone in the squad was looking, silently at Marina. Until someone decided to speak up, "You sure it's safe to give that back to someone like her…" Montley said.

"We could say the same thing about you… Montley" said Susie, a few of the squad mates nodded in agreement.

"Enough, both of them have agreed to come back and fight for Gallia and the Squad. And I for one trust her; we need all of the soldiers we can get if we're going to defeat the Empire at Naggiar." Vyse said loud and clearly. Everyone nodded and we back to their routine of getting ready to move out.

A few minutes later, Welkin and Alicia entered the barracks, Welkin holding his hand next to his mouth, "Squad 7, form up outside!!" he shouted, "It's our turn to move out!!"

And all at once, everyone stopped what they were doing, gathered their gear and weapons and hurriedly headed outside. The convoy was an amazing sight. Dozens of troop, medical and supply transports were lined up all along the main road. Tanks, including Welkin's and Zaka's were formed up ahead and behind the convoy line. Vyse formed his squad up and all his members stood in a single line, behind a blue and white troop transport truck. He waved his arm forward and the members of his squad entered the truck one by one, with Vyse entering last, sitting next to the tail gate.

Moments later, the entire convoy began to move out, while Squad's 8 and 9 were still preparing as the convoy moved past them and headed out the gates of the base and towards the plains of Naggiar.

Hours later, the sun was mostly gone from the evening sky as the convoy continued on. It was getting dark and cloudy outside. Vyse looked out at the surrounding area as the truck bounced along; they had arrived at Naggiar, but not at the battlefield. It was unlike any other region that he or Aika had seen so far. And despite being sweeping, rolling plains, the area only had a few scraggly patches of green grass. The rest was covered in bare dirt, red clay and completely divot-ridden from artillery shelling through the years of the 1st War.

"So this is where we face off against the Empire??" Vyse asked aloud.

Nadine nodded, "Seems almost fitting." she said, "No area in all of Gallia has seen more warfare and been the grounds for so many battles in all of Gallian history, then Naggiar.

Where we're going… are the trenches from the 1st war, hard to believe that they're still there. They've been dug deep, scarring the earth forever. Trench warfare is likely to be… unlike any other kind of warfare that we've fought so far. It'll be long, bloody and very violent. I wish we didn't have to come here…"

"How long?" Aika asked, not sure if she wanted to hear the answer.

Nadine sighed, "Days, weeks, even months are not uncommon in this kind of fighting."

"Best not think about it, we'll see what happens when we get there." Vyse concluded, Nadine and Aika nodded and turned silent again, thinking about other things.

Vyse meanwhile, heard Marina tapping and scribbling a pen against a notepad, clearly she was upset about something. He turned to her, "Something wrong??"

Marina sighed, "These standard issue pens are so useless, one doesn't even last for 5 minutes before you have to use another." she said, tossing her pen out the back of the moving truck. "One like the officers carry would be ideal; they're meant to last through almost anything."

Vyse nodded his head; he then reached into his breast pocket and dug out his silver pen, given to him upon his promotion to Sergeant. He held it out to Marina, "Here, have mine."

Marina looked surprised, and then held up her hands, refusing it. "Oh, no, I couldn't. It's yours after all."

Vyse smiled and set it down in the middle of her open notepad, "Well, it's yours now, a gift, from me to you."

Marina didn't know how to respond, so she just nodded her head and accepted it. Aika noticed and smiled.

"No one's allowed to be unhappy when Vyse is around." she thought happily to herself.

But that happy thought was cut short by the sound of numerous thunder claps and crashes in the distance. Everyone turned their heads just as the truck was making a left turn down a dirt road. And in the distance they saw many red and oranges flashes on the distant horizon; the thunder was in fact artillery shells going off one after the other in a constant barrage. Though it wasn't clear yet, whether it was Gallian or Imperial guns that were firing.

"We're here…" Nadine said with dread in her voice.

A short while later the truck carrying Vyse and his squad stopped, everyone rushing around, unloading the supply trucks. Once Vyse rounded the corner of the truck and looked to the front, he saw more soldiers, tents and tanks then he could count, lined all along the plains in front of him. Further up, more flashes of artillery shells firing from Gallian artillery guns and exploding in the far off distant, over the horizon. It was clear now that the Gallian army was firing a barrage at the Imperial trenches.

A higher ranking officer from the regular army walked up to Welkin, "Are you from Squad 7??" he asked, Welkin nodded, "Good, you're the freshest Squad here, so you'll be going straight to the front and relieving Squads 1-3, who've been getting pounded all day by the Imperials."

We've got all our guns firing at the Imperial lines to keep their heads down while we pull our exhausted troops out. Once you get there find cover quick, once our guns stop firing, you'll be under constant return fire from the Imps. Hold out as long as you can and keep the Imps from taking any ground; do not let them into our trenches, understood??"

"Yes sir!!" Welkin replied, saluting the officer, he then turned to his squad. "Squad 7, move out, we're going to the front!!"

Moments later the entire squad was hurrying towards the front lines, while other squads were heading back to the main encampment. They all looked terrible, extremely fatigued and out of it. Their faces and uniforms were covered with dirt and mud; many had cuts and other wounds on their faces, bodies and hands. The wounded were being carried away in stretchers carried by medics, the injured soldiers screaming and crying out in pain.

Faldio from squad 1 could be seen walking back with his squad, he looked tired and worn out as well. He met up with Welkin and shook his hand. "Good to see our relief has arrived. Take care of yourselves down there, its pure hell."

"Alright, go rest up now Faldio, we'll take it from here." said Welkin, patting his friend on the shoulder.

Vyse, Aika and Nadine tried not looking at the wounded moving past them as they made their way down to the trenches, but they couldn't help but look from time to time. There were grown men screaming for their mothers, soldiers with arms and legs missing, others covered from head to toe in bloody bandages. Even more were being taken away in sealed body bags.

Never had anyone from the squad seen so much injury and death in one place and it was truly scary, even for the most veteran of the squad members.

As they got closer to the trench lines, there was an army truck set up, and stack upon stack of helmets all around it. As the squad members walked past it, everyone had a helmet shoved into their hands, whether or not they wanted to take them.

Helmets weren't exactly standard issue in the militia as some of the members looked down at them in their hands as they walked.

Aika was looking down at her, when all of a sudden; a soldier returning from the front grabbed her and pulled her forward. "Put your helmet on! Put your damn helmet on!!" he cried with tears in his eyes, "Don't ever take it off while your down there, so many of my friends got their heads blown off. Some in their sleep, some when they stuck their head out of the trenches, others were killed by snipers!!"

Vyse ran to Aika's side and pried her away from the distraught soldier, "Don't worry, we'll keep them on." Vyse reassured him, and he put Aika's helmet on for her and did up the chin strap for her as well. He then put on his own helmet just as quickly, securing it in place with the chin strap. After hearing the warning, the other members as well, put their helmets on, very very quickly.

Everyone then entered the deep, dug trenches, the guns continuing firing behind them as they moved into battle positions. But as they moved to wherever Welkin instructed them to, they were constantly stepping over dead bodies, bloody, blown apart limbs and stepping in puddles of blood.

Aika brought her hand up to her mouth as she dry heaved a few times, but managed to hold it back. Nadine patting her on the shoulder, making sure she was ok. Aika raised her head and nodded, "I'm alright… I'm alright." she said, though it wasn't the whole truth, she didn't want to be here at all.

Soon, everyone was in position, the lines stretching as far as the eye could see in each direction. Hundreds of Militia soldiers were sitting on either side of the trench walls, guns in hand, sitting and waiting, with squad 7 being only one of many relief squads taking over for the previous squads who went before them.

Vyse was looking at his squad members with a look of worry in his eyes, even he was scared now. He locked eyes with Aika for a moment and he could see that she was even more scared then he was. Just then, the firing from the main Gallian encampment stopped, and at the same time Vyse and Aika raised their eyes up towards the sky as the entire line fell dead quiet.

Vyse looked at Aika and she lowered her head and shook it back and forth, then came the sound that everyone was dreading. A whistling sound high in the air, the 1st of many artillery rounds that were sure to pound their position for god only knows how long.

The 1st shell hit and caused a loud boom, the explosion itself threw dirt high into the air. It then rained down upon the soldiers, huddled inside of the trenches, some were whimpering in fear as even more explosions followed soon after. The shells falling and exploding all over their lines, shaking the ground, throwing dirt into the air that then fell back down on top of the heads of the soldiers huddled in the trenches.

Aika was cupping her hands over her ears, trying to block out the sound as she cried in fear. To her left she couldn't help but hear screams as some unlucky soldiers that way were hit, cries for medics rang out constantly. And even though she was sitting across from Vyse, she left her position and scooted over, grabbing a hold of Vyse and crying out in terror as the shelling continued. Nadine who was sitting next to Vyse, held onto him in fear and for comfort. So with one hand around Aika and the other around Nadine, Vyse pulled them close and placed his hands on top of their helmets, keeping their heads down. The three friends kept their heads down and shook in terror and fear all through the night as the barrage went on, seemingly without end.


	48. Chapter 48

**Chapter 48- Final farewells**

The morning sun was arising, and the Gallian trenches had blast craters, some that were still smoking as the sun rose. Gallian Militia soldiers from squads 8, 9 and others were heading down into the trenches to relieve the other squads who had held the line through the night. Luckily there were no foot charges from the Imperials lines across the way. The Imps just shelled the hell out of the Gallian front lines through the night with their long range artillery guns.

Meanwhile, Vyse was just starting to fall asleep, while Aika and Nadine were sleeping and breathing softly, on either side of him, one under each of his arms. But just then someone tapped on Vyse's helmet; Vyse groaned and lifted his head.

"Hey, good job buddy. You made it through the night, dawns here and you're still alive." said the male soldier from Squad 8.

Vyse nodded and looked around, and other members of Squad 7 were getting up and heading back through the trenches, towards the main encampment, while the new relief squads were sitting down in their place, digging in for the day.

"Alright, thanks for the wake up call." said Vyse, he look over at Nadine and softly shook her, she moaned softly and opened her eyes. He did the same with Aika and both girls were now awake, though still very tired and sore from staying in a crouched position all night.

"Come on girls, our relief is here. Let's go back to the encampment." Vyse said, he slowly lifted his arms up and over the girls and shook them out. Both were of his arms had fallen asleep, from having the two of the girls sleep on them all night.

Nadine removed her dirty gloves and rubbed her eyes, "Yeah, I could use some water." she said, standing up and dusting her pants and uniform off.

Vyse and Nadine began to leave the trenches, but Aika remained seated where she was, holding onto the sides of her helmet while looking down at the ground. Vyse noticed and went back and knelt down in front of her.

"What's wrong?" he asked

Aika shook her head, "I don't want to go back that way, and I heard the screams coming from that side all night long… I know so many people died that way last night!!" Aika said quickly, almost in one breath before she began to breathe in and out quickly, in a panicked state.

Vyse nodded, "Ok, stand up Aika." Vyse said, taking hold of her hands with his own. He then helped her up to her feet, and then he turned around.

"Put your hands on my shoulders," he instructed, and she did just that, "Now, close your eyes and keep your head down; I'll lead you out of here. You don't have to look at anything that you don't want to the whole way."

Aika nodded gratefully and kept her head down, her eyes shut tight while holding onto Vyse's shoulders as he lead the way.

But with her eyes closed, she still heard the screams of the wounded, and cringed whenever she stepped on something that was soft or squishy, because it was most likely a human or part of a human being. She didn't even want to know what the puddles that she was stepping in constantly were either; she just kept her head down, eyes closed the whole way.

Soon the whole squad was back in the main encampment and were gathering around the Edelweiss as it sat just outside of the main entrance into the encampment.

Welkin looked around at his soldiers, many looked scared, others were relieved to be out of the trenches, others were staggering as they nearly fell asleep on their feet; there wasn't one person who was purely exhausted.

"Alright, looks like everyone is here… mostly." Welkin said, a little bit of sadness in his voice.

"What do you mean??" Nadine asked.

Welkin sighed, "Cherry Stijen took a close range blast from an artillery shell and got hit by Shrapnel. She's still alive thankfully, but she's out of the fighting." Welkin said, "Ramsey Clement got shot last night. It seems that someone's gun discharged while she was sitting next to them and she got hit in the chest as a result. She's in the field hospital now, but in critical condition. And Salinas Milton also got hit by shrapnel, it tore up his helmet and cut his head up pretty bad."

"I'm glad so many of you made it through the night. Squad 6, which was to our left flank, suffered many more casualties then we did through the night. Scary to think that, had we been stationed where they were, we might not of escaped with so few casualties." Largo added.

Captain Varrot walked up to the ground from the back, "That's trench warfare for you." she said, everyone turned and came to attention, "sometimes it's just luck of the draw about where your squad is stationed along the lines. It's amazing how much difference a few meters to the left or right can make."

Everyone nodded, "Alright, rest up while you can, I'm going to find out what our new orders are. We most likely won't depart for the front till late afternoon or the evening." Welkin, said. Everyone then departed from the Edelweiss, in different directions, for different destinations.

Vyse, Nadine and Aika were heading back to the Squad's tent; Vyse's head drooped forward from time to time from pure exhaustion and sleep depravity. Nadine placed her hand on his shoulder, and then took hold of his arm.

"Come on Vyse, we're almost there. You can sleep soon enough." Nadine said, helping support Vyse and lead him towards the Squad tent. And Aika, even as tired as she was decided to help as well, so she slung her rifle over her shoulder and took hold of Vyse's other arm and helped carry him.

Soon they reached the Squad tend and helped lay Vyse down into one of the many small cots set up, row upon row of them were inside. Many had members either sleeping in them or there were others, just lying awake, unable to sleep, for they were still too worked up over last night's events.

"Thanks girls" said Vyse, rolling over in the cot and pulling the blankets up to his chin, closing his eyes shortly after.

Nadine sighed and looked up at Aika, "Shall we go and get something to eat??" she asked.

Aika nodded, "Sure, let's let Vyse catch some sleep." And the duo left the tent and headed for the mess tent.

As the two walked, Nadine happened to look back at the tent where Vyse was sleeping, "Did you happen to notice… Vyse stayed awake all night, keeping an eye over us as we slept. He didn't fall asleep until we were back within the safety of the main camp. I couldn't help but notice every time I woke up throughout the night every few hours and saw Vyse, wide awake, alert, keeping an eye out for any danger."

Aika nodded, "Yes, I know that he does that kind of thing. And I didn't need to be awake to see it, I know that I can always fell safe and fall asleep anywhere, because if there's danger close by, Vyse will stay awake no matter what to protect those he loves."

Nadine nodded, "I… I meant to ask this along time ago." Nadine said, nervously rubbing the back of her head, "But you and Vyse… have you two ever had… romantic feelings towards each other??"

Aika's eyes looked off to the side for a moment, "…No…" she lied, "Vyse and I have known each other since childhood, we're best friends. That's what we've been since we were little, that's all that we'll ever be."

Nadine nodded, "Ok, so you don't have any problems with me going out with him??"

"Of course not, you're my friend. If you want to be with Vyse and he wants to be with you, then that's perfectly ok by me." Aika responded, and she quickened her pace, getting a little ways ahead of Nadine and entering the mess tent and taking a left, towards the line up in front of the steam trays that were holding food. While Nadine continued on straight down the rows of tables after spotting Wavy and Lynn at the far end of the tent and went to go join them.

A few hours later, Vyse began to stir from his sleep. And when he awoke, he didn't see Aika or Nadine anywhere inside of the Squad tent. He sat up and yawned, scratching the back of his head, still feeling a little groggy.

"Sleep well?" as voice asked, Vyse turned his head and saw Marina sitting on a nearby cot. She was cleaning her sniper rifle thoroughly; making sure it was battle ready for when she needed it.

Vyse nodded his head; He got up and looked around for Aika or Nadine. But was unable to find them, so he then turned to Marina. "Have you seen Aika or Nadine anywhere??"

"No" she replied, "But the camps only so big, it should be easy to find them."

Vyse nodded his head, "Alright, I'm off to find them." He said, he then got up and departed from the tent, in search of his two friends.

But not two seconds after leaving the tent, he was flagged down by Largo.

"Perfect timing kid, we've got an officer's meeting right now." He said. And he wrapped his arm around Vyse shoulder's and then lead him to the officer's tent on the far side of the camp.

Aika meanwhile, returned to the Squad tent 20 minutes later. Upon entering she discovered Vyse's cot to be empty. She quickly looked around and spotted one Vyse's squad member, Marina Wulfstan, sitting nearby.

"Hey Marina, have you seen Vyse??" she asked.

Marina just nodded her head, amused, "Wow, you two seem inseparable most of the time. Yet now, neither of you can seem to find each other."

"Have you seen him??" She asked again

Marina shook her head, "He left here, just a short while ago. Where he is now, I do not know."

Aika sighed, turned and left the tent. Once she was outside again, she happened to see Vyse once again. This time Nadine was standing in front of him, holding onto both of his hands with her own, and looking up at him. He had his head down and what looked to her like a hopeless look in his eyes and on his face. His lips were moving like he was explaining something to Nadine. Once they stopped, Nadine brought her hand up to her mouth and gasped.

Aika gulped and walked up to the two of them, and at the same time they turned to Aika. Both looked extremely worried.

"What's wrong?" Aika asked, looking back and forth to Nadine and Vyse.

Vyse sighed, "We just got orders… to go over-the-top and attack the Imperial trenches head on." Vyse explained, "It's madness, they want us to climb out of the safety of our own trenches, run across that barren strip of no-mans land, and then, if there's any of us left alive after that, take out the enemy."

All of the color seemed to drain out of Aika's face within seconds of hearing Vyse's grim report. It seemed to be nothing more then a suicide mission, lead by militia folk only.

15 minutes later, the entire squad was called for a meeting, and the same grim news was delivered to the rest of the squad. Their reaction was the same as Vyse, Aika or Nadine's.

The plan was to have all Militia Squads, 1 through 9, make a simultaneous charge at the stroke of midnight, under the cover of darkness. Though if they made the charge in broad daylight, it might not make any real difference, not to the less well equipped Militia squads. But the higher ups, which included General Damon, saw this as an opportunity to overwhelm the Imperial lines, with the bulk of the casualties being Militia soldiers, which he cared nothing about.

A while later, it was nearing 9:00 P.M. and it was getting dark outside, as the sun was beginning to disappear behind the horizon. The sky was filling with dark clouds as well; this would help cover light from the moon that night, a stroke of luck in favour for the militia. Just then a light drizzle began to fall, and within moments a steady down pour started to fall also.

The mood inside of the squad tent was heavy and quiet. All of the members were sitting on their cots, going through their weapons and equipment checks, but some, sadly enough, were saying their goodbyes and making peace with themselves and other's.

Montley was in the middle of checking his scout equipment pouches to make sure he had everything, when he heard someone approaching him. He looked up and saw Elysse moore slowly walking towards him, hands held together behind her back, eyes kept on the ground.

"Hey… Montley." said Elysse slowy, "I… I'm not too good at apologies or feelings such as these but… I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry for avoiding you, never coming to see you while you were in the stockades or treating you nicely in general." Elysse continued, "But if today is our last day, I don't want to go without saying I'm sorry, you've always tried to be my friend and I was too stubborn to accept it. But if you'll accept it now, I'll gladly be your friend."

Montley stood up and nodded his head, he then held his arms out and Elysse slowly brought her hands out from behind her back, then took a step forward and wrapped her arms around Montley in a hug, their first. "It's alright, I accept your apology" Montley said as she rubbed Elysse's back and continued hugging her. "Whatever happens, I'm glad we worked things out in the end."

One the other side of the tent, Susie Evans was having a hard time taking her binoculars out of its leather pouch to inspect them, for her hands were shaking so badly.

"Here, let me help you with that." said a female voice

Susie looked up and saw Jane Turner offering one of her hands out to Susie. Susie handed the binoculars over and Jane took them, and then sat down next to her, on her cot. Jane easily took the binoculars out and handed them back to Susie.

Susie didn't say anything; she just nodded and smiled slightly, then began to clean the lenses with a white cloth.

Jane took a deep breath, "Look, I know I was hard on you in the past. But maybe, after seeing how terrible warfare is, you'll understand why I did it??" Jane asked, Susie stopped cleaning and nodded her head, still remaining silent.

"I… I still haven't fired my weapon at an actual human being yet." Susie said, "I don't know what I'm going to do out there tonight, but I won't stay behind. I'll follow the rest of the squad to whatever end this battle brings."

Jane chuckled, "Still a pacifist, even now??" She said, she then smiled, "Alright, tell you what. I'll stick close to you this entire battle; I won't let you get more then two feet from me the entire time, so that way I can watch out for you. And believe me, I'll do enough shooting for both of us, alright??"

Susie nodded her head, "Ok… it's a deal" she said, extending her hand and shaking Jane Turner's hand.

Close by, Wavy, Lynn, Karl and Nadine were all sitting in a circle. Everyone was holding hands, heads lowered and were reciting a Darcsen protection prayer, over and over again.

Across from them, Homer Peron was loading his backpack with ammo and supplies. When suddenly, he felt a hand rest on his shoulder from behind. He looked over his shoulder and saw Edy Nelson standing there.

"Oh, Hello Miss Edy." said Homer, standing up and turning around, "Is something the matter??"

"I-I….oh, how to put this." said Edy, scratching the back of her head and thinking hard, "Ah, screw it!!" and she reached forward and wrapped Homer in a tight bear hug, shaking him back and forth as she hugged him.

"Y-you're suffocating me, Miss Edy!!" Homer cried

Edy laughed, released Homer and wrapped her left arm around his head, while giving him a noogie with her right balled up hand. "Ha, you know you love it!!", in her own way, it was her letting Homer know just how much she cared for him and letting them have one last fun moment together, before they moved out.

All this time, Aika was walking up and down the rows of cots, watching one member of the squad saying goodbye to their loved ones. It was kind of upsetting for her, but then she came across Aisha's cot, and she saw her crying hard, hands held against her face as she did. Aika felt a great sadness for her; she was so young and was going on what was probably nothing more then a suicide mission.

Aika sat next to her and wrapped her arm around her, pulling "Hey, Aisha. It's alright, it's ok to cry. I know you're probably very scared right now… we all are."

Aisha shook her head, "No, I'm not scared. I'm angry, at myself!!" Aisha cried, wiping some tears from her eyes.

"Whatever for??" Aika asked

"B-because… I didn't get a chance to say good bye to Auntie Cathy. A-and I refused such a precious gift from her. And now I'll never get to take those regrets back…" Aisha said, crying hard once again.

Aika nodded, her own eyes beginning to well up with tears. She began to pat her pockets and check her pouches. She then retrieved the golden locket from her breast pocket and dangled it in front of Aisha's face. She looked so surprised to see it again and turned to Aika with a grateful look in her teary, red eyes.

"Y-you kept it… you kept it with you all this time." Aisha said, her voice cracking with happiness as she now cried tears of joy.

"Of course, I promised Catherine O'Hara that I would give it to you for her." Aika said, "And I was going to hold onto it for as long as it took, until you were ready to finally accept it."

Aisha smiled brightly as two more tears fell from her eyes. She then took the locket from Aika and looked down at it, in the palm of her hands. She closed both hands around the locket and kissed the top of her hands.

She turned to Aika and smiled once more, then wrapped her arms around Aika's shoulders, hugging her tightly. "Thank you Aika, I'm not afraid anymore."

Aika couldn't hold her tears back anymore and wrapped her arms around young Aisha, patting her on the back. "No problem, I'm sure Auntie Cathy knows how much you love her, and I know how happy she'd be to know that you finally accepted her gift that she's always wanted you to have."

She took the locket from Aisha and young Aisha turned around, Aika then placed the locket chain around her neck and secured it in place for her. Aisha smiled and looked down at Catherine O'Hara's prized locket that was now hers to keep.

Meanwhile, outside, Marina Wulfstan was kneeling against the wet ground as the rain continued to fall. She was busy digging a small, round hole with an entrenching shovel, scooping earth out and setting it in a small pile next to her. Once it was deep enough, she stuck the shovel into the ground, with the handle pointing towards the sky. She sighed and reached behind her, pulling a cloth bag, that was set down just behind her, forward and held onto it.

She then opened the top and pulled out the rectangular shaped tin can and opened the lid. Taking the little brown teddy bear that was inside, out and holding onto it. She smiled and began to run her right hand over its tiny head, petting it over and over again. She pressed the small heart and it opened up, revealing that it was now 9:30 as the sad, slow, musical watch began to play its tune once again.

She brought the teddy bear up to her chest and hugged it tightly, rubbing her cheek against the top of the Teddy bears soft wool head. She then released it, looked down at it and sighed deeply.

She shook her head and began to speak to it, ``I don't really know where to start, or how to say this. But… Ted, before you came into my life, I never knew what it felt like to have a friend before we met, and always felt that I never ever needed one.

You showed me that I was wrong, you were different from the others, in the way that you never ever gave up on me. Even after all my attempts to get you off my back and leave me alone, you just kept right on trying, never giving up. And somehow… we became friends, and even though you're gone now, I will always consider you to be my friend.

I know that you so willing sacrificed yourself, so that I could live… but there is something I must do, I hope that if we meet again someday, that you'll be able to forgive me.``

She then put the small teddy bear back into its tin container and sealed the lid back on. She then knelt down in front of the small hole she dug and placed the tin box inside the hole, then pushed the dirt back into place with her arms and hands, burying the tin box under the earth.

Once it was covered back up, she placed her hand on top of the earth where the tin box was buried. ``Goodbye, my friend. ``

Her hands were still covered in wet mud and dirt, so she dragged her 4 fingers across her cheeks, leaving 4 black marks across her cheeks. She then picked up her hunting knife that was lying on the ground on her left side and tucked it into her belt.

She looked up at the sky and closed her eyes, "Darkness, be my ally tonight." Marina said softly. She opened her eyes and began to walk away from the squad tent and then carefully snuck out of the encampment.

Back inside, Vyse was sitting on his cot, hand resting against the side of his head, thinking long and hard about how he was going to get his squad mates alive out of this one. He looked up and saw Aika walking towards him, streaks of tears visible on her cheeks.

He quickly stood up and watched her get closer, "Aika baby… what's the matter??" he asked, but she didn't answer, she just quickened her pace and wrapped her arms around him, bursting into tears once more.

``Vyse… I don't think I've ever told you-``

Vyse softly pressed his finger against her lips, stopping her. ``Aika… Don't say your goodbyes, we are not dying tonight. None of us are, I'll find a way to get us all out of this alive, I swear it!"

Aika shook her head, ``Vyse, I don't think this is one promise that you can keep. No matter how much you want to, you can't save everyone." Aika said, "So just let me finish."

Vyse sighed sadly, and then nodded his head. "Alright, go ahead."

So Aika took Vyse by the hands and lead him outside of the tent and around the corner. She took a deep breath and looked Vyse in the eyes.

"Vyse, I may never get another chance to say this again, but… I love you, Vyse, I love you so much." said Aika, more tears falling from her eyes as she continued to hold Vyse's hands. "I wish things between us could have worked out differently. But I waited far too long to tell you what I've always felt for you. And tonight… one of us may die in this charge, so I don't want us to depart until I've told you what's always been in my heart."

"I know Aika… it is I who should have been the first to act, but I didn't… I foolishly thought that we had our whole lives to spend together after we finished our adventures. That we'd live forever and have plenty of time to admit our feelings for each other. But here, our lives could be taken at any moment in this war." Vyse admitted, "I'm sorry I dragged us here to this bloody war, it's unlike any other adventure that we've ever been on, one that could cost us our lives."

Aika wrapped her arms around Vyse's neck and looked deep into his eyes, "Then Kiss me Vyse, and kiss me now, before we depart for the battlefield… just once."

Vyse nodded and moved towards Aika, she closed her eyes and softly pressed her lips against Vyse's. Kissing him and wanting to remain in that moment forever. Aika pulled him even closer and kissed him even harder, tears dripping out the corner of her eyes as she finally got to feel Vyse's lips against her own. Vyse wrapped his arms around her back and held her tight, not moving away from Aika as they continued to kiss.

Close by, Nadine peered around the corner of the squad tent and saw Aika and Vyse in their embrace, lips pressed together. She turned back round the corner and held her hand against her chest, sighing deeply.

Vyse and Aika then moved back, faces still close together as Vyse brought his hand up and ran it across Aika's cheek. She smiled and brought her right hand up and held it against Vyse's, nuzzling her cheek against his warm hand.

"Thank you Vyse, I'm not scared anymore." Aika said

"Don't worry Aika; I know that we will make it out of this!" Vyse said boldly

Aika nodded, "Whatever happens, just know that I'll always love you, in life and death."

Nadine then appeared from around the corner; "Hey Vyse, we're ready to move out now." she called out

Vyse looked back and Nadine, "Alright, I'm coming, gather the squad and we'll be inside in a few moments."

And turned back to Aika and placed his hand against the back of her head, bringing her forward and softly kissing her on the forehead. "Come on, let's get going." he said.

Aika nodded and smiled, "I'm ready."

And Vyse lead Aika back into the squad tent, with Vyse's entire squad gathered in the center, weapons and equipment in hand.

Nadine quickly ran up to Vyse, bringing her hand and head up to Vyse's ear and whispering into it. "Vyse… Marina is gone." Nadine whispered, "I don't know where she is, but her cot is empty and her rifle is still on her bed. I think she's run away…"

Vyse shook his head, "Oh no… our best sniper's gone" he thought, but he shook that thought away, he still had men and women to lead. He couldn't let that bother him, he'd just have to make due, one way or the other.

Vyse patted Nadine on the shoulder, thanking her, and then walked up to his squad members. It looked like their moral had taken a major hit upon learning that Marina had deserted and wouldn't be covering them. But he walked up to every one of his squad mates and looked each of them in the eye as he walked past them, one by one and then spoke, "I know that you're all saddened by the loss of Marina, and I do not know where she went or why she left. But we will go into battle none the less and fight, just as fiercely."

A few of his squad mates raised their heads once again and looked at Vyse as he walked up and down the line of his men and women.

"Tonight, we strike the Imperial lines. Tonight we drive them out of Gallia, once and for all!!" he shouted

All of them raised their weapons up and cheered loudly, once, twice, then three times in unison.

Vyse sighed, "I-I can't promise you, that everyone will make it back alive, I can't even promise that to my best friend tonight… but I know that so long as one member of my squad is still standing, then our side will win this war!"

Every one of Vyse's squad members cheered loudly again, Vyse then turned and threw his arm forward and pointed in the direction of the battlefield. "Then let us go, to the battlefield, and to victory!!"

The scouts and engineers raised their rifles up and cheered, the shock troopers raised both hands into the air and pumped their rifles up and down as they cheered, the lancers raised their lances high and cheered and all together, Vyse's squad and squad 7 departed for the Gallian trenches, to prepare for their all out assault in just a few hours time.

* * *

_**Hey Readers, sorry that I kind of lied that the next chapter would be the battle. But it's 3:30 A.M. and I don't think I'll write out the rest of this chapter tonight. but as I re-read it, this seemed like a good place to stop the current chapter, which was supposed to include the battle. But this should keep ya occupied till I get the next chapter out whenever I can, get ya thinking I hope ;).**_

_**And thank you all, for the 1 year anniversary I reached, and 100 reviews that my story has gotten to. I'm extremely grateful to my regulars, who've always read and reviewed each chapter :). Really kept me going throughout this story. It's thanks to you guys that I was able to sit down and write this out, knowing that it would be read :). THANK YOU X100**_

**_Sorry, if it's not turning out as some had hoped, but I'll make it work in the end ;)_**


	49. Chapter 49

**Chapter 49- The Ghost of Gallia**

On the far right flank of the Imperial lines, over 20 Imperial soldiers were either sitting around a small, open fire or patrolling up and down the line. They were chatting, laughing and telling stories of the war they've experience so far. Much of the talk was centered on the legendary and almost infamous and undefeated militia squad, known as Squad 7. And while 7 was usually considered a lucky number, almost anywhere, here it was considered a mark of death, for any Imperial squad or group that was sent against it had suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Squad 7.

Sitting among the fire, were 4 Imperial soldiers and 1 officer. They were waiting on field rations, that were cooking inside of a large pot and drinking coffee in standard issue tin mugs. Around them were Imperial soldiers patrolling up and down the trench line they were set up on.

And as one soldier reached into the pot to check on the rations, another slapped his back and laughed loudly. "Pretty soon, we'll be out of here and we'll never have to eat these dried, disgusting rations ever again," he said, "Soon we'll be able to feast on all of the delicious food that we'll be able to claim for our own, from all across Gallia. Just think of all the food we'll eat once we get out of here."

"Yes, this upcoming battle will surely be the last and final deciding battle for the rest of the war. And there's no way we can lose, not against that pitiful force of Gallian militia soldiers they've sent against us." said the officer.

The other soldiers gathered close by all laughed in agreement to the officer's bold remark.

But one young soldier among them was shaking in fear, for what reason, his comrades couldn't understand.

"Hey, why are you shaking so badly?? Asked one, "Surely you're not afraid of the farm boys and city girls, who are across from us are you??"

"Those Gallian militia dogs have no chance against the far superior might of the Imperial army!!" said another.

The officer nodded in agreement, "We have far better arms, armour and fighting skill then those poor militia rats across the way, and we've no reason to fear them."

"It-It's not that…" said the young Imp soldier, "Here we are, on the plains of Naggiar, were so many of our brothers died in the last great war and where so many Gallians died and who's remains still lie in these very fields… this place if full of death from the ages and from these two great wars."

The others looked at themselves and laughed, "Oh man, don't start with the ghost stories now." one laughed out loud.

"Surely you're not so young, that you still believe in ghost stories." said the officer.

"At night I always have this terrible sense of things. Like there's some sort of evil all over this place. No man, Gallian or Imperial should be here, this place is cursed!" said the young soldier.

The officer walked up to the young soldier and smacked him hard over the helmet with his fist, "Enough, you know that such cowardice is not tolerated in the Imperial army!!"

The young soldier fixed his helmet and nodded, eyes still lowered to the ground.

Suddenly, from high in the sky, came numerous incoming screeching, shrieking and whistling sounds, the sounds of incoming artillery.

"Artillery!!" shouted the officer, diving to the ground and throwing his hands up and over his head, his hands covering the top of his head, to protect from falling debris. The other soldiers all around him copied his movements, to protect themselves from the many incoming artillery rounds that were sure to pound their position.

The incoming rounds smashed into the ground all around them, throwing dirt and other debris high into the air, creating smoking craters all over the place as they pounded the Imperial lines. Some took out nearby sandbag defences, or killed nearby allies and rained lots of dirt and other debris on top of the crouched down Imperial soldiers.

All but the Imperial officer were chattering loudly and cursing in fear, for he alone, raised his head and gritted his teeth together in anger.

"Prepare for battle, the Gallians are sure to send a charge against us soon enough!!" he shouted over the artillery fire. For he knew, from experience, that the shelling of the Gallian artillery against their lines, was only the prelude of worse things to come. Next, would surely come an all out charge from the Gallian lines, to try and overwhelm them. The shelling always came first, to weaken and distract the Imperials. But it would be followed, almost immediately by a foot charge by the foolish Gallian soldier, coming out of the shelter and safety of their trenches to try and overtake the Imperial trenches.

The soldiers still on the ground shouted "Yes sir!!" and they slowly crawled towards the sandbags and other raised defences, located at the forward position of their lines, across from the nearby Gallians, their enemy.

Nearby, two Imperial soldiers crouched low to the ground, they were starting to prep and load a machine gun position with an ammo belt, preparing for the Gallian charge that was sure to come. Artillery rounds crashing to the rear and sides of their position as they loaded the machine gun for action.

Meanwhile, the young private was shaking in his boots, but one of his older comrades slapped him on the shoulder as he passed. "Get up boy! Time to show these militia soldiers, what we soldiers of the Empire can do!!"

Others laughed and cheered as they moved towards the forward positions and sandbags, loading their rifles and machine guns at the same time.

The young private was still whimpering in fear, when he happened to look up at the raised land, above their trench lines, and see what he thought appeared to be a dark human shaped silhouette. But that disappeared as more dirt was thrown into the air in front of him as another artillery round slammed into the ground. The young private covered his head with his hands as more dirt and debris fell on top of him from the nearby blast.

Meanwhile the two soldiers manning the machine gun position had finished securing the ammo belt into position; they kept their heads down, but at the same time, kept their eyes high enough over the nearby sandbags to watch for any incoming Gallians.

"Come on! Come on you Gallian dogs, just try to take over this position!!" he shouted over the falling artillery rounds.

The other laughed, "Haha, Yeah just try to-" but his sentence was cut short by a hand, suddenly covering his mouth. He then felt a sharp blade slash across his throat and he screamed in pain, and then darkness consumed his whole world soon after as he died.

The gunner happened to look over and see a dark figure cutting the throat of his comrade, and all he saw before he felt a blade enter his gut was a single violet coloured eye glaring at him, amidst long black hair, dark as night that concealed the face of his killer.

And all but the young Imperial private were preoccupied by the incoming artillery to notice that their machine gun position was taken out by a single figure, dressed all in black. But pinned down, by the artillery shells the young private could do nothing but watch as the black figure cocked back the machine gun firing bolt back and then turned it 90 degrees to the right and open fire, taking out all the Imperials located amongst the sandbags on that side. The sound of the hail of bullets alerted the Imperials on the other side of the machine gun position, but they only had time enough to look over, before the barrel was swung towards them and the machine gun fired again, sending out dozens of bullets that cut the Imperial soldiers to shreds.

The young Imp soldiers lowered his head to the ground and trembled in fear, as the sounds of his nearby comrades screamed in pain and then became silent. He then looked back up and saw the black figure crouching behind the machine gun, gray smoke rising out of the end of the barrel after having fired many rounds.

Just then the dark figured happened to slowly turn its head and lock eyes with the young soldier, lying on his stomach. And all he saw was a single, glowing violet coloured eye, which was giving him an icy cold glare that sent a chill down his spine. But other then the single eye, he could see nothing else amidst its long, black hair that concealed the rest of its face. Was it a Gallian soldier, or a ghost or demon that haunted the battle field, like the stories he had heard so often.

Just then the black figure raised its head and looked past the young Imperial soldier. He too then heard the sounds of nearby shouts, getting closer. Another round then slammed into the ground just in front of the young imp soldier and he covered his head for just a moment to protect him from the blast and flying debris. But as soon as he looked up again, the figure had disappeared from view, no longer manning the machine gun it had taken.

"What the hell happened here!!" shouted another Imperial officer as he appeared from the nearby trench lines, winding to the east.

The young imp soldier looked all around, seeing that he was the only survivor. "I don't know sir!" he reported from the ground, "S-something came here and killed all my comrades." he said quickly in terror.

"Something??" asked the officer, ignoring the incoming artillery rounds that still hammered the ground all around him as he approached the terrified, young imp soldier. He looked around, at the dead Imperial soldiers all around him as another explosion from a Gallian artillery exploded far behind him.

"My god…" he said, he then knelt down in front of the young soldier, "Now, over 20 of your comrades in arms are dead, and I need to know who did this?" he said, "You must have seen something, so tell me… how many were there. Were they militia or regular soldiers who… somehow managed to sneak into our lines ahead of the shelling, unseen??"

The soldier rolled over onto his side, still shaking, "Sir I-" he started, before stopping, seeing the angry face of his commanding officer.

"Tell me!!" he shouted, "Which way did they do, how many were there, are they still nearby??"

The young soldier looked down at the ground, "Sir I… I don't know how many there were… but I think… I think there was only 1..."

The officer looked extremely surprised, as another artillery round exploded, far off to his right, "Only 1... Are you saying that just 1 man did all of this??"

The young Imp soldier quickly shook his head, his helmet shaking wildly left and right with his movements, "No… n-n-not a man… a w-woman." he said, "Maybe it wasn't even a woman, but something else. The way it moved, the way it struck, it was behind me for one second, then in front of me the next, killing my comrades. It was madness, it was all around us, like out it was able to appear and disappear at will. I could barely see it, it was there for a moment, and then it was gone."

The officer scoffed and shook his head, "This sounds more like a ghost then anything else."

The young private quickly nodded his head, "Y-yes sir, it was like a ghost." he said, he then looked all around him, "Sir, we have to get out of here, this place is cursed, from all those who died before us."

"Enough get a hold of yourself!!" ordered the officer as he stood back up, "You've clearly lost your mind!!"

But behind the officer and his escort, the young private saw the same ghost that he had seen earlier, standing with a large knife in hand, sneaking up on them.

"It's the ghost!!" the young Imperial soldier cried, "The ghost of Gallia!!"

The three soldiers escorting the officer turned around, but one had his throat sliced as soon as he turned around, the other was stabbed in the gut by a large blade, possibly a bayonet blade held by the said ghost. The last tried to swing his rifle around, to aim it at the evil ghost. But it grabbed the barrel of his rifle and turned it, just as it fired, striking the Imp officer straight in the chest. He cried out in pain before falling flat on his back right next to young imp soldier, dead. The young soldier sat up and watched the ghost slash its large knife across the throat of his nearby comrade, then stabbing the bayonet blade, straight into the side of the imp soldier, between his armour for a killing blow.

It took less then 2 seconds for the ghost to take out all 4 of the other Imperial soldiers and officer who had come to investigate the earlier killings. And 25, in total were now dead, all at the hands of this single, ghostly figure or demon.

The young Imp soldiers shook in fear as he sat up and looked towards the dark, ghostly figure as it reached to the back of its belt, retrieving a hand gun from a rear holster as it walked towards him.

The Imp soldier raised his hands and cried out in fear, staring into the single, visible violet coloured eye glaring down at him. And then, without emotion, without pity, it squeezed the trigger and placed a round, straight between the eyes of the young private, killing him in an instant.

And now, all the Imperial soldier were dead, which was all along the line that her squad, which happened to be Vyse's squad was scheduled to charge. Marina Wulfstan finally breathed a sigh of relief, for her plan had worked. She spent the last few hours, crawling across the no man's land, alone, to infiltrate the Imperial lines and take out any danger to her squad mates.

The shelling stopped soon after and Marina looked towards the Gallian lines, hearing hundreds of screams, shouts and war cries coming from across the way. A second later the entire horizon filled with distant silhouettes of numerous charging Gallian soldiers coming out of the trenches and towards the Imperial lines, where she was standing.

Marina smiled, "_The way is clear Vyse, good luck on your mission_." she thought before sheathing her hunting knife and disappearing over the Imperial trench lines, leaving behind the many dead bodies of her sneak attack.


	50. Chapter 50

**Chapter 50- How to save a life, Part 1**

It was near pitch black outside the night of the charge. The sky was over clouded as well, and none of the stars or even the moon was visible that night. Meanwhile, all of the militia squads, from 1 through 9 were crouching down inside of the Gallian trenches, stretching from east to west. They were anxiously awaiting the order to attack. Squad 1, moved down from the west, upon orders and approval from Captain Varrot, allowing Faldio and his squad, to support his best friend, Welkin Gunther's squad in battle.

Both squads lined either side of the passage way of the trench. Squad 1 was lined up all along 1 side mud and earth wall, Squad 7 lined up against the other and both sides were crouching down as Imperial flares either flew over head, or fell very slowly from high in the sky, down towards the ground, giving partial spots of light all over the battlefield.

Meanwhile, Vyse was sitting in the center of his entire squad. He had Nadine, Wavy and Hector on his right side. While Aika, Alex, and Yoko were on his left side. Unfortunately, with Marina missing in action, they would have to make due without a sniper. But given that they were on the plains of Naggiar, there weren't many high up places that she could have set up at anyways. Just a few wooden sniping towers that were extremely exposed and stuck out in the flat area of no man's land. Vyse quickly checked his watch, and saw that it was now 11:45 P.M., just 15 minutes until it was time to commence the charge.

Vyse looked towards the sky, and then turned his head left, then right, to his squad mates on either side of him. "Get ready, here come the guns!!" he said, and sure enough, the sound of dozens of thunderous artillery blasts could be heard, coming from the encampment. And the overhead roaring of the rounds as they flew towards the Imperial lines followed soon after.

Everyone was on edge now, some shaking in their boots; other's digging their heels into the ground in anticipation of the upcoming charge. Vyse looked over at Nadine and he could see her resting her forehead against the barrel of her rifle, breathing in and out slowly.

He placed his hand on her shoulder, but didn't say anything. She looked over and nodded to him, both were too scared to talk, but they both knew what the other was saying just by eye contact.

And perhaps, by some cruel twist of fate, Cezary Regard was sitting across from them with the rest of squad 1 on his left and right all along the line.

"Craving another hit of Ragnaid, Dark-hair?" he asked cruelly, "Bet you're just dying for some ragnaid right about now, help take the edge off of the upcoming battle, right?"

He even went so far as to reach behind himself, to his back pouch and take out one of his ragnaid capsules and toss it into her lap. "You can have mine, not like I'll be needing it."

Nadine glared at Cezary, picked up the capsule and threw it back at him, hitting him square in the chest and surprising him.

"No! I kicked the stuff, I don't need it anymore!!" Nadine said angrily, "And at least I'll be out there with my friends, not like you, hiding all the way back here in your sniping tower."

Vyse raised his hand in front of Nadine's face, "That's enough; this is no time to be fighting with each other. Focus on your task and your duty Nadine."

He then turned to Cezary, "If this were any time, other then war, I'd of kicked your ass long ago." he warned.

Cezary just scoffed and waved his hand, "What ever, foreigner. I now know why you're always defending her so fiercely."

Vyse glared and tilted his head, not quite sure what Cezary was talking about.

Cezary grinned and nodded his head, "Yeah that's right, I saw you wearing that Darcsen cloak the other day. You turned Darcsen, didn't ya? He he, so she finally managed to convert you didn't she?? " he said, "Well, have fun storming the castle tonight."

Vyse just shook his head and ignored him as the artillery rounds continued to fly overhead, pounding the Imperial lines over and over again.

A short while later, Vyse checked his watch and saw that it was now 11:55, only 5 more minutes until the charge would be commenced.

And from far down the line, the order to "Fix bayonets!!" was being called, slowly getting louder as the order got closer to Squad 7 and Vyse's own squad. And from just a short distance away, Largo shouted "Fix bayonets!!" and Vyse took a deep breath, "FIX BAYONETS!!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

And from either side of him, his squad members retrieved their bayonet blades from their sheaths and very quickly fixed them to the ends of their rifles or machine guns. And now both squads, 1 and 7 got into a kneeling position, and lined up shoulder to shoulder, and one behind the other in rows, getting ready to go over the top and commence the all out charge.

Just then, the shelling stopped as the last few rounds exploded along the Imperial lines, and then all was quiet. And all up and down the Gallian line, soldiers closed their eyes, took a deep breath or lowered their head as the moment had come at last.

Montley, who was a short distance away from Vyse's squad, looked over at Elysse Moore, who was kneeling down next to him. She looked over and shifted her lance over so it rested against her right shoulder, she then patted Montley on the shoulder, nodded her head and smiled.

Next to them, Susie Evans had some tears falling from her eyes as her trembling hands held onto her rifle. Jane Turner, who was beside her, reached over and wrapped her arm around Susie's shoulders and pulled her close, "Now, stay beside me, and I mean RIGHT beside me the whole time." she ordered, Susie bravely wiped away her tears and nodded her head.

Close by, Edy Nelson looked over at Homer and she punched him in the side of the shoulder to get his attention, he turned to her and she smiled and gave thumbs up. He smiled back and returned the thumbs up.

Meanwhile, Vyse was looking at his squad mates as they crouched near the top of the trench. He looked at Aika, then over at Nadine. He then held his hand out and Aika immediately placed her hand on top of Vyse's, Nadine did the same and soon all of the members of Vyse's squad had their hands stacked on top of each other. Everyone looking at the man or woman next to them and nodding.

Vyse took a deep breath and looked around at his squad members. "Alright, I want Aika, Alex and Hector with me in the 1st wave. Run as fast as you can, we've gotten reports that the Imperials are able to call in long range rocket attacks that'll blast the entire no man's land area. Hopefully we'll be able to get all the way across before that happens, but be prepared to dive into the nearest blast crater if you can." Vyse said, those chosen nodded, "Then I want Lynn, Wavy and Yoko in the 2nd wave as soon as the rocket attack stops. But, you'll only have about one minute or two after the 1st barrage stops, so don't stop for anything. And finally, Nadine, you've got the most stuff to carry, so you'll be the last one to cross, in the same manner as the 2nd wave. But by that time, most of threats should be taken care of, understood??"

Nadine nodded, "I'll cover the rear everyone!!" she said confidently

Vyse's sighed deeply and smiled at his squad members, "Alright then, I'll see you all on the other side…" he said.

And everyone only had enough time to nod and smile at each other one last time before multiple whistles were blown by the commanding officers of each squad, all along the line.

Vyse took as deep of a breath as he could, "CHARGE!!" he screamed, standing up and climbing very quickly over the top of the trench and taking the 1st step out into No man's land.

At the same time, all along the Gallian line, thousands of Gallian soldiers climbed over the top, yelling, screaming and roaring as they began the long charge across the barren, crater filled area of no man's land. It was nearly a 200 yard long charge they would have to make. But Vyse was ill prepared for what he was about to see next.

As he ran, with Aika by his side, Gallian soldiers to his left were getting hit by machine gun fire or thrown high into the air like rag dolls from mortar and artillery blasts coming from the Imperial lines as they fired at the charging Gallian soldiers.

Some weren't even lucky enough to make it more then 1 or 2 steps out of the trench's before they were hit by enemy snipers, causing them to fall or roll back into the Gallian trenches, dead or seriously wounded.

But onward they charged Vyse's squad, Squad 7 and every other squad all along the line, towards the Imperial trenches. Though many fell, not one soldier hesitated, or stopped. They charged ahead as fast as their legs could carry them.

Vyse was running as fast as he could, with a screaming Aika staying right next to him the whole time. But something was odd about the charge they were making. There were mortar rounds exploding and machine guns firing bullets and tracer rounds all across the battlefield. But not where Vyse and his squad were charging. There were no muzzle flashes from amongst the sandbags across the way, no bullets flying towards them from the machine gun position that was surely supposed to be covering the area where they were charging.

But as they got closer, the Imperials must have also noticed that there was no opposition attacking that small band of Gallians on their right flank. That was soon fixed, as mortar shells began to fly towards Vyse's squad. Fortunately for them, they got closer then any other squad and ducked into the nearby blast craters, that were not far from the Imperial sandbags and trenches that they were assigned to take out. And, perhaps by some miracle they had made it a little more then ¾ of the way across no man's land before meeting any opposition or enemy fire.

But as Vyse and his 1st wave squad mates were taking cover, they happened to hear the loud, over head shrieking sounds that signalled the incoming of the 1st rocket attack.

"Get down!!" he yelled, reaching over and grabbing Aika and pinning her to the ground, protecting her with his own body. Alex and Hector were also getting low and covering their heads with their hands.

The entire ground then shook from the impacts of the flying projectiles as they slammed into the ground, all across the no man's land that the Gallians were charging across. Dirt, bits of guns and metal from destroyed Gallian rifles and machine guns flew high into the air. Sadly, bodies and screams from dozens of unlucky Gallian soldiers that didn't make it into the safety of blast craters or other deep holes filled the air as well.

Soon the explosions stopped and the debris that was thrown into the air began to rain back down upon the Gallians that were still alive all across no man's land.

Vyse coughed loudly from the dust and smoke that filled the air, but he turned his head in the direction of where he thought the others were. "Is everybody alright??" he asked, still coughing from time to time.

Aika coughed and nodded her head, "I'm alright Vyse!" she said, patting him on the leg.

"Still here…" Alex said, coughing and moaning

Hector chuckled, "You ain't getting rid of me that easy!!"

Vyse chuckled happily, knowing that his squad mates were still alive and well. He stuck his head out of the blast crater and looked to his left and right, seeing other squad 7 members like Jane Turner and Susie crouched inside a nearby blast crater as well, Edy and Homer in another one just behind them and Elysse and Montley in another. The 7's fared out extremely well in the charge, sadly, that couldn't be said about the others along the line. Hundreds of dead bodies littered the battle field… men and women, young and old, soldiers of every class, all over the place.

"Alright, let's continue on." said Vyse, "This dust and smoke should give us just enough cover to make it into the nearby trenches!!"

Everyone from Vyse's squad and the rest of the 7's then got up and continued their charge.

Meanwhile, back at the Gallian trenches, Wavy was peeking over the top of the Gallian trenches with his binoculars in hand. He surveyed the damage done by the rockets and tried to locate Vyse and the others.

"I can't see them!!" he shouted, searching desperately for anyone from squad 7 or his own.

"Do you think they…?" Lynn asked nervously.

Nadine shook her head, "No way something like that would be enough to stop Vyse," she said confidently, "He's alright, I'm sure of it!!" But Nadine turned her head upon hearing lots of commotion coming from the west.

"Oh no Wavy, Look!!" she cried, tapping him on the shoulder and pointing towards the west.

Wavy raised his binoculars up and looked to the west, seeing hundreds of Gallian soldiers running in the opposite direction, back towards their own trench lines. Some were crying "Retreat!!", while many others were carrying injured comrades back towards their own lines.

"Oh no, Squads 4 and 5 are falling back!! They're leaving our Squad and Squad 1 alone on the battlefield!!" Wavy cried.

Lynn grabbed Wavy by the sleeve, "Come on!!" she yelled, "We're supposed to go as soon as the barrage was finished, those are our orders!!"

Wavy nodded, "The kid's going to need everyone he can get now." said Wavy, placing his binoculars back in their pouch and grabbing his rifle. "Come on Lynn, Yoko, follow me!!"

And with that Nadine was left alone while the next three made their charge across no man's land. She stuck her head out of the trench, "Good luck!!" She called out, pulling her head back just in time to avoid having her head blasted off by an enemy sniper.

Meanwhile, not far to her left, and stationed high up in a tall, wooden sniping tower was Cezary Regard. And He was sniping off enemy soldiers that were manning machine gun posts or any that were unlucky enough to stick their heads out of the trenches. His rifle fired its last bullet from its current ammo cartridge and he pushed the eject button, the clip sliding out of the rifle, hitting the wooden railing of his sniping tower and falling to the ground below.

He closed his eyes for a moment, "Damn it… I hate being up high, I'm so exposed like this!" he growled, he then opened his eyes and reached for another ammo clip on his ammo belt. But he saw something in the corner of his eye. He turned his head and saw Lynn, Wavy and Yoko making a mad dash across no man's land. Next he saw then dive into a nearby blast crater, taking cover from falling mortar shells and tracer rounds shooting at them. They weren't as lucky as Vyse's squad and only made it less then half way across no man's land.

Cezary snapped the ammo clip into place and pulled the bolt back once, he then smiled evilly. "Oh man… it would be so easy!!" he thought with a grin and a chuckle. He moved his eye up to the scope and placed the cross hairs over Lynn's back, then moving over to Wavy, centering the sights directly over his head, he then moved on to Yoko. But he moved his eye away from the scope and shook his head.

"Where is she… that other Dark-haired brat…" said Cezary, he then looked further back and saw her crouching down low, watching the other's advance. "Oh… all alone now is she??"

"Let's see how far you make it when it's your turn to run." he thought with an evil grin, "I always love the challenge of a moving target."

Cezary then went back to shooting Imperials across the way, but he set aside a full ammo cartridge on the railing beside himself.

Meanwhile, Vyse and the other's had already reached the Imperial lines. But what they saw shocked them, for all the Imperials stationed at the sight there were sent to charge… were already dead. Many black flies were already buzzing all over their corpses. Some were riddled with bullet holes; other's stabbed, sliced and gutted. Everyone was slowly walking around the area, forgetting the heat of battle as they stepped over dead Imperial soldiers or checked on the ones near the sandbags. Some were still propped against the sandbags, rifles in firing position, cold dead fingers still around the triggers or inside the trigger guards.

Aika grabbed a hold of Vyse's arm as they stepped over a dead Imperial officer at the same time.

"What happened here…" she said, resting her head against the side of Vyse's shoulder as other members of Squad 7 checked to make sure they were all really dead and not faking it to surprise them later.

Vyse shook his head, clueless and speechless. Just then there was a sound, like someone was approaching from the winding trench lines. And the air filled with the sound of numerous rifles and machine guns being cocked back as everyone got low and aimed their rifles and machine guns towards the sound.

The sound of foot steps were slow, but getting louder as whatever it was that was coming got closer. Vyse closed one eye and aimed his iron sights towards the approaching threat. But both of his eyes opened wide when she saw Marina Wulfstan appear, her uniform covered with blood and caked in dirt and mud, 4 black marks across her cheeks. She stood there for a moment or two, looking at all the guns still aimed at her before everyone lowered their guns at the same time.

"This way" she said, pointing to the way she had just come "I've already cleared the way for as far as I could. But there is still a lot of opposition ahead." she said slowly, calmly.

"Alright, move out people!!" Vyse shouted, and the other members of Squad 7 began to head down the winding maze of trenches, leading to their objective, a radio camp that was commanding the incoming rocket fire.

But Vyse returned to the nearby sandbags, waiting for the rest of his squad mates. He saw Wavy, Lynn and Yoko slowly making their way towards them, moving from blast crater to blast crater. But he soon heard the familiar sound of the screeching, shrieking, incoming rockets. "Get down!!" he shouted, to both his squad mates and the one's still out in no man's land.

Everyone took cover and got down low as they spotted the large rockets sailing towards them. Moments later, the ground shook once more as the rockets exploded all across the battlefield. Dust, smoke and debris was send high into the air and rained down on the heads of everyone once again.

Vyse raised his head once more and looked towards where he last saw Wavy, Lynn and Yoko. He saw them raise their heads and give a thumb up, signalling that they were all ok.

Meanwhile, back at the Gallian trenches, Nadine poked her head above the trench and saw that half her squad was already inside the Imperial trenches; the others were less then 100 yards from the Imperial trenches.

"Alright, my turn." Nadine thought and she carefully got out of the trenches and moved to the nearest crater she could find and jumped down into it. She carefully looked around for the next closest and safest place to head to, and indeed Vyse was right, it was taking her longer to cross with all her gear weighting her down.

Behind her, Cezary Regard finally saw Nadine leave the safety of the trenches and was out in no man's land, alone. He picked up the clip he had set aside and loaded it into his gun. He pulled the bolt back and loaded the 1st round into the chamber, gritting his teeth in anger as he did.

"All the humiliation of being demoted and all the trouble you've caused me… will soon be over." he thought as he slowly raised the rifle up to his shoulder, "You've had this coming for a long time, a long time, Dark-hair!!"

Cezary then placed his crosshairs over Nadine, aiming at the Engineer symbol on her back, which acted as a great target marker. He slowly placed his finger around the trigger, an evil grin spreading across his face.

But just then there was a massive explosion that shook the tower he was in, and he brought his eye away from the scope and looked down at the ground. An enemy artillery shell exploded near him, he stumbled for a moment as another one hit a little bit closer, causing him to fall back against the far railing behind him. The next hit one of the 4, long support legs and it splintered and cracked loudly, the whole tower shook and swayed for a moment and Cezary dropped his rifle to the ground, trying desperately to hold on.

The tower remained still for a moment, and then began to tip forward, like a massive tree falling after being chopped down. Cezary held onto the rear railing as the tower began to fall faster and faster.

"OH SHI-" he tried to scream as the falling tower acted almost like a catapult, launching him like a projectile from the tower, out towards no man's land. And as he caught air, he flailed his arms and legs wildly, while falling to the ground. He then made a hard landing, his right leg breaking like a twig while the rest of his body bounced back up and rolled quite some distance.

He was winded for a moment, but managed to sit up, as he pushed his way back up from the ground. He looked around and immediately panicked as he realized where he was, the one place he tried to stay away from, No Man's Land.

He tried to stand up but immediately released a scream as he realized one of his legs was badly broken. He looked down and screamed once again upon seeing that his leg had a bone sticking right out of the skin, even piercing his uniform pants. He held onto his leg with both hands and fell onto his back in pain, "OH GOD! MY LEG!!!" He screamed in extreme pain.

About 25 meters to his right and slightly ahead of him, Nadine was searching for the next safe place to take cover in. A mortar blast exploded close by, but even with that Nadine thought she heard something else. She removed her hand that was covering her head to shield herself from the blast and looked to her left. And sure enough she spotted someone writhing on the ground in pain, clutching one of their legs.

But this wasn't just anyone; it was Cezary Regard that she was looking at. How he had gotten all the way out there, she didn't have a clue. But as she looked on, she heard him screaming at the top of his lungs, "HELP! SOMEONE HELP ME!!"

Nadine looked towards the rest of her squad, then back to Cezary, still crying out in pain. She could very well leave him, and continue on her way to try and make it to her squad mates or remain where she was, either way she was safe from the incoming rockets that were sure to strike anytime now.

She looked forward, towards her squad mates, then back at Cezary again. Her hands were trembling now, her heart racing as she thought about what to do. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. So she tried again "I-I…" she stuttered, she then took a deep breath and set her rifle down inside the crater and very quickly removed her backpack and tool belt. "I'M COMING CEZARY!!" She screamed at the top of her lungs.

Nadine then scrambled out of the crater and with nothing to weight her down, she ran as fast as she could towards the downed Cezary. There were mortar rounds exploding all around her as she ran low and fast.

But she managed to reach Cezary unharmed and reached down and grabbed a hold of him by his uniform jacket and pulled him up into a sitting position.

He screamed in pain, then looked at Nadine with wide eyes, "Watch it Dark-hair, my frigging leg is broken!!" he screamed.

"Shut up, I'm here to save you, you idiot!!" she screamed right back, causing Cezary to remain quiet, or at least not yell at her, but still cry out in pain.

She pulled him up off the ground and on top of her shoulders. She then turned on her heels and began to run as fast as she could back towards the crater she was last in. And even as small as she was, and with the help of the adrenaline pumping through her veins in fear of the incoming rockets, she was able to ran with great speed.

"Help! Medic!! SOMEONE!!" Nadine screamed as she ran with Cezary, he was starting to get heavy as she got winded from all the running.

Back at the Imperial trenches, Vyse and Aika were still waiting for Wavy, Lynn and Yoko to make it to them and they were very close now. Lynn, Wavy and Yoko got up from the blast crater they were inside and made a mad dash towards the Imperial trenches, where Vyse and the others were waiting.

But Wavy, stopped in his tracks, while the other's continued on. Because he had thought that he heard something or someone. So he quickly turned his head and looked back and spotted Nadine, carrying someone on her shoulders, across No Man's Land. He also heard her screaming for help at the same time.

"NADINE!!" he cried, turning and running back towards her.

Meanwhile, Yoko had jumped down into the safety of the trench, but Lynn stopped just as she was about to and turned around, seeing Wavy running in the wrong direction. "Stop, Wavy!!" she cried, turning and running after him.

And now, Vyse was seeing all three of his Darcsen squad mates going the wrong way. He once again heard the shrieking of incoming rockets. And sure enough, his worst thoughts were confirmed when he spotted the incoming rockets a ways away, flying straight towards his squad mates, who were still in No Man's Land, completely exposed.

He threw his Machine gun down and got out of the trench and back out onto no man's land, running as fast as he could after his squad mates. "LYNN!! WAVY!! NADINE!!!" he cried

Aika was just about to follow him before Alex and Yoko grabbed a hold of her and held her back. "Let go of me!!" she cried, struggling to break free, "Vyse! Vyse!! He's going to die!!"

"It's not safe Aika!!" Alex screamed, soon other squad mates joined in to hold Aika back, for it took nearly all of them to hold her back.

At the same time, Vyse was closing in on Lynn from behind. He looked over and saw the rockets getting closer, and his heart sank as he knew that he couldn't reach both of them in time. So he pushed himself as hard as he could and closed the distance between himself and Lynn. Once he was close enough, he reached out and wrapped both of his arms around her waist and tackled her to the ground. The two then rolled together into a nearby blast crater. But Lynn was still kicking and clawing at the ground, trying to get back up.

"No!!" she cried, "Wavy WAVY!!"

But Vyse maintained his tight grip around her waist, pinning her to the ground. He shut his eyes tight and shook his head sadly.

"I'm sorry…" he said softly as he continued to hold onto Lynn.

Meanwhile, "Nadine!!" Wavy still cried, still running as fast as he could towards her. But a nearby mortar blast threw him hard to the side, causing him to roll along the round, his glasses falling from his face and landing in the dirt, quite some distance from him.

At the same time, Nadine had dived back into the safety of the crater, where she had last left her rifle and equipment. She released Cezary, who was still complaining about his hurt leg. But she heard the familiar voice of Lynn, her Darcsen friend. So she poked her head out of the crater and looked around, but didn't see Lynn but could hear her, she was screaming "WAVY!!" over and over.

Her heart froze and she quickly scanned the area, spotting Wavy slowly pushing himself up off the ground, his head cut and bleeding profusely from the side. "Wavy!!" Nadine cried, waving her arms wildly to get his attention.

But Wavy, just looked over and smiled, seeing that his friend Nadine was safely tucked inside a crater, safe from the incoming rockets. A split second later, he was completely engulfed in a giant ball of fire from the rocket that smashed into the ground next to him. And Nadine only had enough time to duck her head back into the crater before the blast wave flew over her and over the crater she was hiding in with Cezary. Blowing air, smoke and debris over the lip soon after.

"Oh….ooohhh…" Nadine cried as she backed up against the dirt and mud wall of the crater, opposite of where Cezary was sitting. She was too shocked to cry or speak, but the way she had her arms wrapped around body and rocked herself back and forth, as well as the look on her face said it all. Her long time friend, and fellow Darcsen member of squad 7, Wavy… was dead and she knew it.

Meanwhile, Lynn stopped struggling, and Vyse could tell that she knew what had happened. He released Lynn and she immediately climbed out of the crater and ran to where she last saw Wavy, but the blast had completely vaporized any remains of him. The only think she found as she fell to her knees in anguish and tears were his large framed glasses, lying nearby.

She reached over and picked them up, many tears falling from her eyes as more explosions went off all around her from mortar blasts and gunfire, but she was completely oblivious to them now, lost in her own sadness.

"Lynn…" said Vyse from behind her

She turned and looked at Vyse, extreme anger and hatred burning in her eyes. She got up and ran at Vyse, grabbing and tackling him as they rolled along the ground, then rolled into the same crater they had taken cover in.

And Lynn let loose on Vyse, punching him hard across both cheeks multiple times. "WHY DID YOU STOP ME?!" She shrieked, grabbing and shaking Vyse by his uniform jacket, pounding his back against the ground multiple times. Vyse did nothing to stop her as he looked away sadly.

"I could have saved him!!" she cried, more tears falling from her eyes, "If you hadn't of stopped me back there he'd still be alive!"

"And you might also be dead right now…" said Vyse, a large, bleeding cut on his lip.

"IT WAS WORTH THE RISK!!" Lynn screamed, she released one hand from Vyse and held up Wavy's glasses in front of his face. "Keep this in mind Vyse: Now Wavy's wife is a widow, and his children will grow up without a father, and both will bear a grudge against you for the rest of their lives… as will I!!"

Vyse didn't know what to say, he just closed his eyes that were beginning to tear up. Lynn continued to breathe heavily in anger, eyes still wide as saucers as she maintained a tight grip around Vyse's uniform jacket with one hand and Wavy's glasses with another.

Lynn then released Vyse and sat back, "What good is it to save someone who has no family, over someone who does…" Lynn said sadly, not so much anger in her voice this time.

Just then Aika appeared above the top of the crater, looking down at them. "Vyse… are you alright??" Aika asked

Vyse shook his head, "Wavy… he's dead…" he said, a lost look in his eyes.

Lynn tucked Wavy's glasses into her breast pocket and got up, "I'm going back to Nadine." Lynn said and she turned her back to Vyse. "Our part in this mission is over, finish the rest yourselves…" and Lynn climbed out of the blast crater and headed out.

Aika climbed down into the crater and sat next to Vyse, placing her hand on his shoulder. It was now that Vyse broke down completely, bringing his hands up to his face and sobbing loudly.

"It's my fault…" he sobbed, "It's my fault!"

Aika began to cry and wrapped her arms around Vyse and pulled him close, hugging him inside of the dark crater and crying right along with him.

Meanwhile, Nadine was still in shock at the loss of Wavy, even Cezary stopped crying out in pain as he looked over at her. Just then some dirt was kicked down on top of his head and he looked up and spotted Lynn, who was climbing down into the crater and helping Nadine up to her feet. She wrapped her arm around Nadine and pulled her close, supporting her on her shoulder.

"Come on, we're getting out of here." she said.

Nadine didn't say anything, she just nodded her head. Lynn then looked over and spotted Cezary, she then looked over at Nadine and glared at her.

"Why did you save him??" she asked, Cezary was a little shocked at her question.

Nadine just shook her head slowly, still staring straight ahead with unblinking eyes "I… I don't know…"

Lynn just shook her head, "Forget it, let's just go." she said, she turned to Cezary once more, "Nadine's a far greater person than I could ever be… I wouldn't have come to save you."

Cezary just nodded and looked away; he couldn't believe that someone he plotted to kill had actually come to save him. Nadine and Lynn got up and left the crater together and headed back towards the Gallian trenches, leaving the other's to finish the mission without them.

_**Hey, only 1 part of a 2 part battle scene. I'm putting this out now, because I don't know when the next time I'll get to sit down and write it, but I'll leave ya with this. Yes, this was always the plan from the very start. Depending on if I have to work tomorrow, I'll try to get the next part up A.S.A.P**_

**_Reviews of all kinds are welcome, just tell me what ya think... too dark??_**


	51. Chapter 51

**Chapter 51- How to save a life, Part 2**

Vyse and Aika were still huddled together in the blast crater, out in no mans land. Vyse had taken the 1st loss of a squad member quite hard. It wasn't just that it was one of his team mates, but it was a good friend and one of Nadine's Darcsen comrades.

"I should have had us all go at once… we all could have made it across and no one would have died." said Vyse.

Aika shook her head, "It's not your fault Vyse. You made the right choice to have us go in waves, if you didn't, we might of all been cut down at once if we encountered heavy resistance." she replied "But, you didn't know that there would be no opposition against us, thanks to Marina."

And as if on que, Marina appeared above the blast crater, looking down at both Vyse and Aika. She then jumped down and knelt down in front of Vyse.

"Come on Sgt. Inglebard, time to get moving." she said, in a voice so normal it was almost shocking, despite what had just happened.

Aika glared at Marina, "Give him a moment, for pity sake" she said, "We just lost a squad member and a dear friend."

"So" Marina replied flatly, "Fight now, cry later if you must."

Vyse looked up at Marina with teary red eyes, he then gave her an icy glare "What the hell is wrong with you!" he screamed "Wavy… he's dead… don't you care?"

"No, not at the moment." Marina replied "This isn't how a squad leader should be acting right now. The mission still isn't over."

She then reached forward and hauled Vyse up onto his feet, "On your feet sir." she said, she then turned his body towards the direction of the Imperial trenches. "You still have men and women to lead, if you fail to lead them properly, then Wavy won't be the only one who dies out here."

Vyse lowered his head for a moment and sniffled loudly; he then wiped his eyes with the back of his sleeve and nodded his head. "Right… let's get moving"

And he led the way with Marina and Aika following right behind him.

Meanwhile, back at the main encampment, Fina the medic was attending to wounded soldiers, of which there were many. She was in the middle of tightening bandages around a wounded male soldiers head when she happened to look up and see Lynn walking towards her, supporting Nadine on one soldier who had a distant, lost look in her eyes as she limped along.

"Mina, finish this up for me!" Fina said, reaching over and picking up her medical pouch, once she had it in hand, she very quickly made her way over to Lynn and Nadine.

"Nadine! What's wrong, where are you injured!" Fina asked, but once she reached her and Lynn released her, she looked Nadine up and down, and then turned her around to inspect the other side for any injuries or gunshot wounds, but there weren't any.

But Nadine still seemed to be in a comatose state as she stared forward with almost unblinking eyes. Lynn found a wooden chair nearby, just inside the medical tent and sat down, setting her machine gun down, right beside her.

"She's not hit anywhere, but she's not able to continue fighting either." Lynn said "We just lost a very close friend, Private Wavy to rocket fire."

"Oh no… I'm sorry to hear that." Fina said, she then guided Nadine inside the medical tent and sat her down on an open cot and knelt down in front of her.

"Nadine… I'm sorry to hear what happened to your friend. You stay here for as long as you need, ok?" Fina said to Nadine, she just nodded her head ever so slightly, mouth still slightly open, eyes still staring straight ahead. Fina nodded and patted Nadine on the shoulder and left.

Just then Gina, Fina's identical sibling came in, helping an injured Juno Coren find a cot. And she sat her down in an open cot, right beside Nadine. Juno had some white bandages wrapped around her right arm, a round, red blood stain in the middle.

Juno moaned and looked over at Nadine; she shook her head "Twice… can you bloody believe it. I've been shot twice, almost directly in the same place both times, here and at Vasel Bridge." Juno said, she then looked Nadine over good and long.

"Wait… you're not shot!" Juno exclaimed, "What the hell are you doing in here, you're still able to fight."

But Juno then noticed Nadine's lips slowly begin to quiver, tears welling up in her eyes at the same time. She choked on some tears and sobs then lowered her head. "Wavy… he-he's" Nadine sobbed, she lowered her head and broke down completely, emitting loud sobs of pain and sorrow. "He's dead!"

Juno had heard of the extremely close bond all Darcsens share, and it seemed to be so for Nadine. Juno then felt extremely bad for reacting so harshly towards Nadine, so even as painful as it was, she reached out and took hold of Nadine, pulling her close and letting her cry against her shoulder.

Nadine continued to sob directly into Juno's shoulder and Juno brought her arms up and patted Nadine on the back as a knot began to form in her throat and tears forming in the corner of her eyes. Just then she looked up and saw Lynn looking down at her.

"You still think she's able to fight?" Lynn asked, Juno tried to gulp down the knot in her throat, shaking her head at the same time. There was no way Nadine would be able to perform her engineering duties in this state.

She then looked over and saw an unconscious Alicia Melchiott being brought in, face down in a white stretcher, a bullet hole in her back. At the same time, Fina had come back to check up on Nadine, a cup of water in her hands as well.

"Fina… what happened to Alicia?" Juno asked, worried, for Welkin's sake. She knew how he felt about her, but he was waiting with the rest of the tanks and armour for the ground troops to take out the radio station controlling the rocket fire. So he wouldn't know about what had happened to Alicia just now.

Fina lowered her head, "She… was shot, in the back somehow." Fina said "She didn't even make it 10 feet from the Gallian trenches before she was hit from behind… I think someone on our side did it…"

"What!" Juno said, "Someone from our side… shot Alicia?"

Fina shook her head, "I don't know, but that seems to be the most likely case. How else could she be shot from behind when she had just barely gotten out of the trenches?"

Juno shook her head; it was a disturbing thought indeed. Why would anyone shoot someone from their own side, as soon as the charge was commenced? If they wanted it to look like Alicia got shot out in no man's land from Imp snipers, they didn't do a good job.

Meanwhile, back in the Imperial trenches, the 7's and what was left of squad 1 were slowly making their way through the winding maze of trenches, Imperials attacking them the whole way.

In one area, Jane Turner was taking cover behind some large, cube wood boxes, firing her machine gun wildly at Imperial soldiers taking cover behind crates a short distance away. Susie was right beside her, but she was crouching down low, hands covering her head, still unable to shoot at human beings.

She then felt Jane grab her by the back of her collar and haul her up, "Come on, those Imps are dead, time to move on. "

Susie whimpered but nodded her head, 3 soldiers from squad 1 followed the two. Susie was shaking so badly she was having a hard time stepping over the dead bodies of all the Imperial and Gallian soldiers that littered the trenches. She tripped over one and Jane stopped to help her up while the 3 squad 1 soldiers continued on.

But as soon as they rounded the corner to the next area of the trench system, there was the sound of automatic gunfire and the three soldiers were cut to pieces, either falling down or against the mud, wood and earth wall of the deep trenches.

Susie and Jane looked up at the same time, "Ah! Damn Imps, you'll pay for that!" Jane growled and she led Susie towards the corner to the next area. But she pressed her back against the wall, Susie doing so as well. And one of the soldiers was still alive and looked over at Jane, and pointed forward, gurgling blood at the same time

"M-machine… g-gun nes-" but another burst of machine gun fire riddled his body with bullets and he died instantly.

Jane turned to Susie, "You stay put, and I'll take out that machine gun position."

Susie nodded and kneeled down in a ball, trembling hands grasping her rifle.

Jane then reached down and retrieved one of her three grenades and pulled the cord, she then stuck her arm around the corner and lobbed the grenade in the direction of the machine gun position. It exploded and multiple groans and cries rang out. Jane then rounded the corner and ran full speed down the narrow trench way, a short ways away she saw a pile of sandbags with a machine gun barrel sticking out a short distance ahead of the bags. But the 3 man crew were coughing, moaning and crying out in pain from the grenade explosion.

Susie meanwhile, stuck her head around the corner, just in time to see Jane jump up on the sandbags, then spray a stream of fire from her flamethrower attatchment, at the downed soldiers, laughing loudly as she did. "DIE DIE DIE!" She screamed.

Susie felt like throwing up as she brought her head back around and held her hand against her mouth. But what she didn't see was an injured Imperial soldier crawling along the ground, towards a standard Imp rifle that was on the ground near Susie's feet.

Susie then opened her eyes and immediately saw a gun barrel pointing right at her face, an Imperial soldier with an open, bleeding wound on the side of his head glaring at her, teeth barred as he growled at her. But she was frozen in place, rifle still in her hands, but not raised up.

Jane turned around and saw Susie's predicament, she raised her machine gun up and pulled the trigger, but only a "click click click" sound followed, she was out of bullets.

The Imp pulled the trigger of his rifle, but there were no rounds in his rifle either, he cursed then reached with a trembling hand down to his ammo belt and started to retrieve another clip.

"Susie! Shoot the bastard!" Jane yelled from down the trench.

And Susie raised her own rifle up and aimed it at the Imp's face, but didn't pull the trigger. "Stop! Stop!" Susie ordered, her gun shaking uncontrollably in her hands.

"Damn it Susie, shoot him!" Jane yelled again

Susie shook her head, "I-I'm t-t-telling you to s-s-stop, please, just surrender!" Susie said, once again trying to reason with the Imp, but he continued to load his rifle.

And by now, the Imp soldier was able to load another clip into his rifle; he grinned and pulled the bolt back, loading a fresh bullet into his rifle.

Susie just lowered her rifle and released a terrified sigh as she back up against the trench wall.

"What a wimp!" The Imp taunted as he took aim at Susie's forehead.

But from behind him, Jane grabbed him and sliced his throat with her bayonet, Susie screaming at the sight of the blood spilling from his neck onto the ground. Jane then released the Imp and shook her head in disappointment at Susie.

Suddenly, from behind her, a screaming Imp was charging at her, rifle in hand, bayonet coming towards her. But Jane managed to turn, and was able to grab the barrel of the rifle and stop the Imp from gutting her with his rifle bayonet. Jane then fell back against the ground, and the Imp was now standing over her, pushing with all his might, trying to stab Jane with his bayonet.

Susie was still on the ground, trembling in fear as she looked on, unable to move. Jane was struggling and groaning with effort as she tried to keep the bayonet away from her, but it was very slowly getting closer. She heard Susie whimpering and shouted "Damn it Susie, shoot this Imp!" while glaring at the said Imp.

Susie raised her rifle up, but was still whimpering quite loudly as she took aim. But her barrel stayed up, and didn't fire a shot yet. The Imp looked up and saw another Gallian aiming at him, so he tried to raise his rifle up to shoot her. But Jane, instead of pushing the blade away, was this time, pulling it down, towards herself, keeping his aim on her. And now it was a back and forth battle, with Jane either holding the blade back, or keeping the Imp from aiming at Susie, by pulling it towards herself

"SHOOT. THE. DAMN. RIFLE!" Jane ordered, but still she hesitated.

By now the Imp got the jest of it, he knew that Susie was a pacifist and wouldn't do it. So he refocused his attention on Jane, "You should pick your team mates better!"

The air was then cut with one loud, echoing gunshot and the Imps head whipped back and he collapsed to the ground in a lifeless heap. Some blood splattered on Jane's face, and she blinked her eyes a few times and gave her head a shake. She then sat up and looked back, spotting Susie with her rifle up against her shoulder, a tiny trail of grey smoke exiting her barrel and swirling up into the air.

"Oh my…!" Susie exclaimed, dropping her rifle and cupping both hands against her mouth, "What have I done…"

Jane pushed herself up and walked over to Susie, "Saved my damn life, that's what you just did." Jane said, patting Susie on the back "It was either him or me, and I'm glad you didn't hesitate too long. Another second or two and my strength would have given and I'd be gutted like a stuck pig."

Unfortunately the words Jane used to describe her gratitude were too much for Susie and she keeled over and threw up, once, then twice.

Jane just shook her head, and then heard a lot of footsteps, fast approaching. So she raised her machine gun to her hip and aimed it down the trench. But she immediately raised it up once she saw Vyse, Aika, Alex, Hector, Yoko and Marina come around the corner. Back up had finally arrived and it was Vyse's squad no less.

"Glad you could make it!" Jane shouted while waving.

She then bent down and helped Susie to her feet just as the other's arrived.

"You guys alright?" Vyse asked, Susie's face was now just as pale as Jane's and she looked extremely sick to her stomach.

"Yeah, you could say that." Jane said, she then turned and pointed down the trench line behind her. "The radio station should be very close now, so let's get this over with."

"Alright, follow me!" said Vyse, leading the way with everyone trailing behind him in a single line.

This deep into the trench, resistance was much lighter is what Vyse noticed as he led the way. Soon they began to hear the crackle and chatter of Imps working a radio nearby.

"Keep up the rate of fire, don't let any more Gallians into our trenches!" one shouted.

The other growled in frustration, "Damn it, if these Gallians take this position we're finished!"

Vyse stopped moving and looked back at his squad mates, raising his finger to his lips to signal quiet. And everyone did so; he then pressed his back against the trench wall and slowly peered around the corner. Just up ahead was a large, square shaped opening with sandbag defences, tables, Vyse also spotted 2 Imperial officers in black standing over a radio operator, who was working a large radio system and had a small handful of soldiers protecting them.

He then pulled his head back and looked up, judging the height of the trench wall. And he figured out his plan, so he turned to his squad mates and signalled for everyone to crowd around.

"Alright, I want each and every one of you to get your grenades ready and pass them out to those who don't have any." Vyse ordered and everyone did just that. "On my order, throw them as hard as you can over this wall and into the area up ahead. Once the explosions cease, the shock troopers will move up and take out any survivors."

Everyone nodded and each took a grenade off their belts and got ready to pull the cords.

"NOW!" Vyse screamed and everyone did just, yelling and pulling their cords and heaving their grenades over the trench wall and into the opening where the radio equipment and troops were. A second later there were multiple explosions that sent blue flashes and smoke up. Screams from the Imps stationed there following soon after.

Vyse and Alex then rushed around the corner and fired their machine guns from the hip, spraying bullets left and right, taking out the rest of the Imp soldiers and officers. Vyse ceased firing and looked around, seeing no movement anymore. So with that clear, he whistled loudly to signal that the coast was all clear to the rest of his squad.

The others then entered the radio station location, slowly surveying the area and seeing that the radio itself was also destroyed in the blast, their objective was now completed. So with that done, Vyse reached down to his belt and retrieved a long cylindrical object and popped the top, and held it up high. And almost immediately a blinding green flash of light appeared from one end, followed by thick green smoking fizzing out of the smoke flare, the signal that Welkin and the rest of the armoured units were waiting for.

At the same time, far on the other side of the battlefield, The Edelweiss, Shamrock and 8 other Gallian tanks were waiting, their radiators glowing blue as they idled. Welkin had half of his body sticking out of the turret hatch and was scanning the horizon with his binoculars, when he happened upon the signal flare that everyone was waiting for.

"Green smoke! I see green smoke!" he said into his headset said, "The other's have done it, they're through!"

"Alright, now it's our turn!" Zaka said next.

Meanwhile, inside of the medical tent, there was a radio set up at the back, so the medics could know what was going on at the battlefield and when to expect casualties. Close by Nadine, Juno and Lynn happened to hear Welkin and Zaka's messages.

Nadine slowly turned her head towards the radio and nodded after hearing that her squad had successfully taken the Imp radio station.

Soon, the rest of Squad 7 had arrived at Vyse's location, some were cheering, others patting each other on the back. Even Vyse couldn't help but smile, but also he knew that the battle wasn't over. There were still Imps to take out and their main encampment to destroy.

"Alright, now that that's over with, we should move on and attack the main Imp encampment." Vyse instructed, and his squad, along with the rest of the squad 7 members all nodded their heads.

Rosie took point, "After me Kiddos!" she called out, waving her arm forward and heading through an opened gate, leading northward towards the Imp encampment. Many others followed her, while Vyse stayed back with his squad, taking a head count and making sure everyone was fit to move.

As he did, Marina nodded her unsmiling head, "This is how a squad leader should act." she complimented.

Close by, Montley was kneeling by some sandbags; he had gotten mud all over his rifle and was cleaning it out before moving on. "Yeah, he actually looks after and cares about his own team mates and the safety of their lives." Montley said angrily.

Vyse just shook his head, and kept his back to Montley as did everyone else. "That's enough Montley…" Vyse said lazily, he was far too fed up with his attitude to try anymore.

Marina on the other hand, turned around and glared at Montley for a few seconds. But suddenly, started reaching back to her large hunting knife, which she quickly slid out of its sheath and flipped it around, taking hold of the blade, getting ready to throw it.

"Marina, what are you doing?" Vyse cried, reaching over and trying to grab her hand before she threw her knife at Montley.

But it was too late; Marina drew her hand back and threw her knife towards Montley. And he was too afraid to move as he watch it spin through the air, end over end towards him.

He closed his eyes, but he still heard the 'Swoosh swoosh swoosh' sound of the blade spinning through the air, first grow louder, then pass by him completely. Next he heard a loud groan, followed by something heavy hitting the ground hard next to him.

He quickly opened his eyes and looked down, spotting a dead Imperial officer in red armour, lying on his back with Marina's knife sticking out the side of his neck, blood was pooling all around his head. The sound of footsteps behind him made him jump and swing his rifle around.

But Marina didn't even flinch when the rifle was trained on her as she approached Montley; she then stopped in front of him. She looked over and locked eyes with him, never breaking her gaze as she reached down and retrieved her knife from dead Imp she killed, saving Montley from certain death.

She then slid the blood soaked knife back into its sheath that was attached to the back of her belt, sideways. "Come on… keep moving boy" she said, motioning with her head in the direction of the main Imp encampment, where the rest of the squad was currently heading.

Montley just nodded and stood up shakily, then taking off after the others, while Marina slowly walked back to her squad.

Vyse was both dumbfounded and embarrassed, he didn't know which to do first, apologize for assuming she was going to do something terrible or thank her for saving Montley's life.

"Marina I…" said Vyse

"That was amazing!" Alex complimented

Marina just shook her head, "Only doing what team mates do for each other, protect and watch out for the other." Marina stated plainly.

"Even after the way he's been treating you?" Aika asked

"One life saved for 2 lives taken…" Marina said, "But I still haven't fully repaid my dept to him… and to myself."

Vyse nodded his head, now fully understanding why she went out alone and cleared the way and saved Montley without any hesitation. It was to atone for her past mistakes.

"Alright, I understand Marina." Vyse said, "But don't do anything overly rash to try and make up for your debt."

Marina didn't answer at first; she just started walking forward, past everyone else and towards the Imp encampment. "No promises." she said

Vyse just smiled and looked over at Aika; she smiled as well and patted Vyse on the shoulder as she walked past him. Vyse followed soon after with the rest of his squad trailing behind him.

On the other side of the battlefield, the tanks were rolling across No Man's Land, towards the Imperial trenches. The Edelweiss and other tanks were firing shells towards the main Imperial Encampment to the North, slowly making their way through the mud and over blast craters, driving around some that were deep enough to engulf an entire tank.

"This is Lieutenant Gunther of Squad 7." said Welkins voice over the radio on Vyse's hip and inside the medical tent at the same time. "We're nearing the Imperial camp, resistance is light and everything is looking good for our side!"

And all at once, everyone inside the tent, injured, medics and others all cheered loudly, clapping their hands and whistling out loud. But others like Lynn, Nadine and Juno all remained quiet, looking around at everyone else cheering.

Juno was concerned about how her best friend Welkin would react, once he learned that the girl he admired and possibly loved had been shot and was critically wounded. Nadine was still mourning Wavy, as was Lynn; neither was in the mood for cheering.

And across from them, on the battlefield the 7's were fighting hard just outside of the Imperial camp. Guns on both side were blazing, lancers were firing anti-tank rounds at tanks stationed inside, blowing some sky high. Soon tank rounds were flying into the base, taking out tents, tanks and Imp soldiers left and right. Everything looked like it would be over very soon.

However… Welkin Gunther's radio crackled for a moment then came to life. "Lieutenant, we've just got word that the Valkyria is heading this way from the East… She's already destroyed much of our forces stationed over there. She'll be here very soon, so watch out!"

And almost immediately, all across the battlefield, the joy that was once in the air was gone in an instant. There were terrified murmurs and conversation inside the medical tent, even Nadine and Juno raised their heads and gasped, almost at the same time. Lynn stood up and looked towards the radio, "_Oh no_…" she thought.

The 7's were all looking around at each other, no words exchanged, but everyone looked worried or absolutely terrified. But Vyse shook his head, "Keep fighting!" he yelled to everyone around him and they went back to fighting the Imps and trying to take the base.

And as Welkin, the shamrock and the other tanks were nearing the base, a bright, blue, swirling energy beam appeared from the east, taking out the two Gallian tanks trailing in the back of the group.

Welkin's tank came to a halt, as did the others and he appeared from the turret hatch, binoculars raised up to his face. "Where did that come from?" he asked as he scanned the horizons. Suddenly, from the East, but over a mile away, he saw her, Selvaria Bles, one of Maximillians Generals and a Valkyria. Her body was engulfed in a glowing blue light, which danced around her body as if it were on fire, but had no affect on her like fire usually does to humans.

"Unbelievable… she did that from well over a mile away… why?" asked Zaka

Welkin lowered his binoculars and sighed, "Probably just to show that she could…"

Welkins eyebrows lowered and a determined look spread across his face, "Alright, everyone, spread out, we're far too vulnerable when bunched up like this. Attack her from all sides, she must have a weakness!"

And with that order, Welkins tank sped forward; Zaka's tank went into reverse and the remaining Gallian tanks moved left and right, everyone taking a different direction towards Selvaria.

Meanwhile, just outside the Imperial camp, Vyse couldn't help but look over his shoulder every now and then, at the battle going on between Machine and Valkyria. The tanks were crisscrossing all over the battlefield, firing their tank turrets at Selvaria, but she just stayed were she was, shield up, blocking all the hits, or moving slightly to the left and right to dodge the incoming rounds with ease.

He then saw Selvaria single out a single Gallian tank, raise her blue, spiral lance up and take aim. The lance itself began to spin round and round, while a glowing blue, swirling light began to appear around the lance, spinning faster and faster, some kind of shrill, almost shrieking sound followed as the lance charged up. Slevaria then fired off a single, straight beam that flew towards the tank and vaporized it instantly.

"No way… that's a Valkyria's real power…" Vyse said to Aika who was kneeling beside him amongst sandbags. "But still… we should do something."

Aika looked back, and then tapped Vyse on the shoulder. "Come on Vyse, focus!" she said, "We've got orders to take this base, and Welkin doesn't need our help!"

Vyse nodded and refocused his attention on the battle he and his squad were currently engaged in.

Out on no man's land, where the tank battle against the lone Valkyria was going on, another Gallian tank got too close to Selvaria and she blew it up with her lance in the same manner as the other one.

Welkin lowered his head and cursed, just then "Hey Kid, I'd hate to say this, but I don't think there's much that we can do against someone like her." said Zaka, "I suggest retreat…"

Welkin shook his head, "No, if she gets past us, she'll head straight for our base, where all our injured comrades and commanders are. And we cannot let that happen, no matter the cost." Welkin replied

Zaka sighed, "Understood…" he said softly

At the same time, Selvaria moved at an impossible speed, in a blur of blue light, towards another Gallian tank. She screamed in rage, then swung her lance against the side of it, breaking apart one of its treads and leaving a giant dent in the shape of her straight lance in its side. She then jumped up on the tank and hit it over and over again, breaking the turret completely off before jumping off and slamming her lance into the side of the tank once more, flipping it over with ease and causing it to explode.

Now there was only the Shamrock, the Edelweiss and 3 other Gallian tanks still fighting Selvaria. She was dodging or blocking the shots with ease. She then crouched down and jumped, straight up, catching at least 15 feet of air, all while charging her lance up as she got higher. She then smirked and released a "Hmmm" before firing her lance and this time a steady, streaming beam flew from the tip of her lance as she swung from right to left, remaining high up in the air as she did so. The beam then took out the 3 remaining tanks as the beam moved over them and then stopped just as the last tank exploded. Selvaria then gracefully landed on the ground and smiled in satisfaction as she looked around at the many columns of thick, black rising smoke from the destroyed tanks.

And now, it was only the Edelweiss and the Shamrock still standing as they zig zagged all over the battlefield, never staying still to let her get a shot off at them.

But now, as he continued to watch, Vyse could take no more, "Come on, we've got to help… somehow!" Vyse said, looking towards the battlefield and seeing the devastation that Selvaria had caused.

"Vyse… that's suicide, to attack her head on... it's just plain reckless." Susie warned.

Jane shook her head, "I may be brave and want to kill every single Imp out there… but that's one that I am not attacking!"

Vyse clenched his teeth together and grunted angrily, he then nodded his head, "Alright, anyone brave enough to follow me, say so now." Vyse said, "This is not an order to any of you, just a request, we have to help our squad leader."

Everyone looked at each other, but no one said anything. "Are there any volunteers?" Vyse asked, and almost immediately, Aika, Hector and Alex stepped forward.

"Four… four soldiers…" Marina said, "You're going to put 4 soldiers against Selvaria Bles... she seems strong enough to annihilate the entire army on her own."

"Numbers don't win a battle!" Alex said confidently, slapping Vyse on the shoulder.

"Numbers HA! We've got guts on our side!" Hector said next, grinning widely.

"I'll follow you anywhere Vyse, you know that" Aika said as she placed her hand on Vyse's shoulder.

Yoko sighed and walked up to Aika, "Can't let the young lady go out there without any protection." Yoko said

But other then Vyse's squad, no one else volunteered, but he didn't have time to wait.

"Alright, thank you… all of you." said Vyse, "I know we can do it, we can beat her if we try hard enough!"

Everyone nodded bravely; Vyse nodded and smiled back, "Come on! Let's get going!" he said turning and running back towards the Imperial trenches, to make his way back to Lieutenant Welkin.

Aika hung in the back as everyone ran past her; she looked over at Marina as she stood watching everyone leave. "Aren't you coming?" she asked, Marina turned and fixed her gaze on Aika.

"No… I can't die yet; I've still got a dept to pay before I can die." Marina said, turning her head and looking away.

Aika nodded her head, "Alright, I'm off!" and Aika took off after the others.

Meanwhile, the other 7's were watching the others leaving, some sadly shaking their heads as they watched their comrades leave, possibly for the last time.

But back on the battlefield, the battle wasn't going so well, for now Selvaria was toying with the Shamrock and the Edelweiss. Either batting away their tank rounds, or just standing and watching them circle around her. One was going one way, clockwise, the other was going counter clockwise, firing at her on occasion.

She then made her move, rushing towards the Edelweiss and stabbing her lance right into the tank treads; destroying the wheels on the right side and causing the treads to come undone and fall to the ground in pieces. She then jumped up onto the turret, slamming her lance down hard, causing the entire tank to shake and rumble underneath the lances blow. She then raised her lance up and brought it down again and this time, even the mighty Edelweiss let out a loud metallic groan and squeal of grinding, twisting metal. The Edelweiss's gun barrel then dropped forward, and aimed at the ground, almost as if the monstrous tank had died.

Selvaria smiled slightly, and then laid her lance down on top of the tank. She then reached down and grasped the hatch and pried it open with her monstrous strength. And inside, she saw a groaning, moaning Gallian with brown hair, a severe laceration on the side of his head that had blood flowing from it, streaming down the side of his face.

"Ah… so here you are." Selvaria said in a voice that sounded other worldly, she smiled again. "How have you been since Barious?"

Her hand then shot forward and grasped Welkin around the throat, he coughed and choked as she began to lift him out of the tank hatch with just one hand, and once he was out, she kept on raising him up, until she had her arm fully extended outward and looked up at Welkin and laughed.

"I owe you for that defeat at the Barious Desert… but I want to watch you die, instead of vaporizing you completely. I will then take your head back to Lord Maximillian, in payment for destroying his prized tank, the Batomys" Selvaria said

All this time, Selvaria's death grip around Welkin's throat, had activated his radio's throat communicator, pressing down the button that needed to be pushed before he could give orders. And every single word was heard by Vyse, his squad, and sadly, also by Juno Coren back at the Medical tent.

"Welkin…" Juno said, her voice trembling with fear and worry.

Just then, there was a burst of machine gun fire, followed by an anti-tank lancer round flying over Selvaria's head, missing her completely. She released Welkin and raised her shield up, just in time to block another Lance round that slammed into her. Welkin's body hit the tank, he then rolled over the side and fell from the tank, hitting the mud hard. But he managed to look over and see, fighting from the Imperial trenches, Vyse Inglebard and his squad mates, firing away at Selvaria.

Welkin's vision was getting blurry, his throat was aching and sore from the choke hold, but he managed to croak out "Vyse…" before his face fell forward and into the mud, he was now unconscious.

Selvaria glared at the foolish Gallian foot soldiers as she held her shield up, blocking the hailstorm of bullets being fired at her. She saw an older female soldier take aim at her with an anti-tank lance, so she crouched and jump high into the air, spinning and twisting, avoiding the anti-tank round before making a landing some distance away from the Edelweiss. She readied her lance and aimed it towards the bunched up soldiers, "Fools! I'll teach you for interfering!"

But just then, there was an explosion behind her, so close it actually startled her this time, for she had no defence against a rear attack, her one vulnerable spot. She looked over her shoulder and saw the Shamrock still moving, still taking aim at her. Probably the only reason it didn't fire sooner was because she was either near or on top of the Edelweiss, or clutching Welkin in her hands.

"Hmmm… I had almost completely forgotten about you… Darcsen!" Selvaria said, she could see the tank had the Traditional Darcsen pattern paint on its armoured hull. "Time to fix the mistake, and finish you off, once and for all!"

Selvaria then took off after the Shamrock, leaving Welkin and the Edelweiss behind her.

"She's leaving, move move move!" Vyse ordered, and he and the other's left the Imperial trenches and made their way over to the battered Edelweiss. Vyse and Aika quickened their pace, getting ahead of the others and the kneeling down next to Welkin, carefully rolling him over on his back and checking him over.

He had a hand shaped imprint over his neck and a deep gash on the side of his head, other then that he seemed to be mostly alright.

The rest of the squad took up positions around Welkins tank, keeping an eye out for Selvaria or any other dangers. Vyse looked over and saw her chasing the Shamrock, but it wasn't going without at fight, firing its turret wildly, and spraying her with bullets from its machine gun.

"Aika! Check inside, see if Kreis is alright!" Vyse ordered, Aika nodded and began to climb up the Edelweiss. While Vyse took off Welkin's throat communicator and held it against his own throat, pushing the talk button.

"This is Sergeant Vyse Inglebard here." he stated, "We're currently tending to Welkin and Kreis, just outside the Edelweiss." He then looked up and spotted Aika, with an unconscious Kreis hanging from her shoulder."

"We need some sort of extraction or rescue from this place... I don't know how long we can hold out. But we'll remain here and try to protect Welkin and Kries. So please, send help fast!"

Back at the Medical Tent, Juno was trying to run out of the tent, but Mina and Fina were both holding her back. She had tears flowing down her cheeks as she screamed Welkin's name over and over again.

But even amongst that, Nadine clearly heard Vyse, her lover's voice and plea for help. So she slowly stood up and took a slow step forward, "Vyse… Vyse…" she said softly, but Lynn heard her and looked over at Nadine.

"Nadine… what are you doing?" Lynn asked, standing up as well and rushing in front of Nadine, blocking her

Nadine slowly raised her head, "I must go… Vyse needs me…" she said, her eyes still seemed devoid of any sort of emotion, her voice soft and slow.

Lynn shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes, she reached forward and grabbed and shook Nadine by the shoulders. "PLEASE!" she shrieked, two tears flowing from the corner of her eyes and down her cheeks, "Don't go! Please stay here, where we're safe… where we can live!"

Nadine looked up and locked eyes with Lynn and Lynn gasped as she finally saw some life, some light return into Nadine's eyes. Some tears were slowly welling up in her eyes as well. "I have to go Lynn… please let me go…" Nadine said, a small smile forming on her lips as some tears fell from her eyes.

Lynn shook her head and it fell forward against Nadine's chest and she shook her head back and forth, sobbing loudly. "Don't leave me… all alone. If you die, I'll have no one!"

Suddenly, Nadine's arms slowly rose up and wrapped around Lynn as she continued to cry, "You have your lover, Karl Landzatt." Nadine said, still smiling, still crying, "But I must go to mine, I must go to Vyse Inglebard now. What would you do if it were Karl out there, asking for help?"

Lynn sniffled loudly and hugged Nadine back, "I'd be out there right now… nothing would stop me from saving him…" and with that she released Nadine and took a step back, head lowered in sadness as she cried and sniffled loudly.

Nadine placed her hand under Lynn's chin, "If I must die, it will be for love. The greatest cause worth dieing for…" Nadine said, Lynn nodded her head, there's nothing more that she'd so willingly sacrifice her own life for as well if she had to.

Nadine sighed and walked past Lynn and towards the exit. But Fina left Juno's side and rushed up to her.

"Nadine, you can't go out there alone!" Fina cried, but the sound of a gun being cocked back made her stop in her tracks. Nadine continued to walk towards the exit and around Fina, who happened to see Lynn aiming her machine gun at her.

But as she walked by Fina, she softly said "I won't be going alone."

Lynn glared at everyone who was looking at her, pointing a gun at Medics of all people. "I'll shoot anyone who tries to stop her; she knows what she has to do!"

Nadine then walked up to Juno, who was also looking towards Lynn. "Juno… come, let's go save the one's we love." Nadine said, looking over and smiling at Juno.

Juno nodded and smiled as well, "Let's!" and together they broke off into a run, out of the medical tent and towards the battlefield.

Meanwhile, back on the battlefield Vyse threw the communicator to the ground and grabbed Welkin by one arm, Alex taking the other and they dragged him to a nearby blast crater, Aika brought Kreis soon after.

Fortunately, Selvaria was still pre-occupied by Shamrock, which gave Vyse the time he needed. He turned to his squad mates.

"Alright, everyone find a crater and stay hidden, we must somehow attack her from behind. Once you have a shot, take it right away. We'll spread out all over so that at least one of us will get a shot off at her from behind. Got it?" he asked.

Everyone nodded and they began to head out, crawling across the ground, trying to keep their movements hidden while Selvaria was distracted by the Shamrock.

Vyse turned to Aika, "Aika baby… stay here and protect Welkin and Kreis."

Aika shook her head, "No! I want to fight with you!" She protested, but Vyse shook his head and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Not this time Baby." Vyse said, "I want you to stay here and protect our Lieutenant… please… for me."

Aika lowered her head and nodded, "Alright, for you."

Vyse smiled and patted her on the cheek, "Thanks… and if i do happen to need you help, don't move until I call for it, no matter what you see of hear." Vyse then grabbed his machine gun and headed out, leaving Aika to retrieve her hand gun and load it, Welkin's head in her lap.

Vyse remained low, as he scampered across no mans land, searching for a place to hide. But just as he found one, he saw Selvaria flank the Shamrock and slam her lance into its side, causing it to flip over and cartwheel into a large dip or divot in the battlefield, deep enough that it nearly disappeared, but its treads could still be seen as it rested upside down in the hole.

She then jumped onto the downed Shamrock and looked like she was getting ready to drive her lance straight down into the Shamrock; he knew she could easily stab right through it and kill Zaka… if he was still alive inside.

So he raised his machine gun up and fired off a quick burst before diving down into the crater and disappearing. The rounds nearly reached Selvaria, but she reacted quick enough that she spun around and raised her shield up, blocking the bullets before lowering her shield and scanning the area.

All she saw were smoking destroyed tanks, the banged up Edelweiss and bit of debris blowing across the battlefield, no sign of life anywhere.

"Sneaky little vermin." said Selvaria, and she jumped off the tank and landed back on the battlefield. She held her shield up, at the ready just in case she needed to block as she walked. Her red, glowing eyes glancing left then right as she moved.

"Come out and face me dogs of Gallia!" Selvaria shouted, but there was no response, just the wind blowing.

Suddenly, there was a boom sound behind her and she spun around, batting away a lance round that would have struck her in the back, but who ever had fired it had disappeared once again.

Selvaria growled, "Think you're so clever that I'll never find you… you're sadly mistaken!" and she crouched low, then jumped inhumanly high and looked down at the battlefield from her position high up, and sure enough, she spotted a terrified Yoko looking up at her.

Selvaria brought her lance up and fired off rapid, purple shots of energy that instantly killed Yoko. And though the other's heard her scream, they remained where they were. Selvaria landed back on the ground and began to walk around the battlefield.

"Where are you hiding?" she asked aloud, looking left and right, she then stopped, "If you won't come out, I'll just have to find you once more."

And she got down low and jumped up high once more, but this time "NOW!" shouted Vyse and everyone came out of their hiding spots, all at once, weapons aimed up high and it was clear to Selvaria now that they were on all sides.

"Fire! FIRE!" Vyse shouted, and everyone did just that, rifles firing, machine guns blazing, a lancer round flying and trailing smoke as it flew towards her.

Selvaria held her shield in front of her body, but the rounds hit and the lance exploded, and she was covered in a cloud of smoke from the explosion that masked her fate from view.

Vyse and the other's lowered their weapons as they looked up at the thick cloud of smoke, and Selvaria wasn't coming back down. Vyse smiled, "We did it… WE DID IT!" he cried.

But his smile suddenly faded when he saw a spinning blue light appear from within the cloud of smoke, the spinning helped dissipate the smoke around her and she came back into view, looking extremely angry now as she remained hovering in the air, her blue lance charging up for a powerful blast.

Vyse's eyes shot wide open, a cold sweat covering his entire face in almost an instant, he looked over "RUN!" he screamed, and everyone turned 180 degrees and took off running in different directions.

Selvaria's eyes picked a target, a young blonde haired boy running away; he looked over and saw her glaring at him.

Alex dropped his machine gun and held up his hands and cried "NNNNOOOO~!" before being engulfed in a beam of blue energy, completely disintegrating him.

Vyse stopped upon hearing Alex's cry, but he only turned in time to see him die at Selvaria's hand.

"ALEX!" Vyse screamed. He dropped to his knees, clenching his teeth together in extreme anger and released a stifled cry of pain and anger at the loss of his friend. He looked up at Selvaria who had landed back on the ground and was looking over at him.

Vyse screamed in anger, while raising his machine gun up and firing it continuously, all the time walking and still screaming at Selvaria, never taking cover.

Selvaria just calmly raised her shield up and blocking all his bullets with ease. And when Vyse ran out of bullets, but quickly discarded his machine gun and reached back for his side arm pistol, aiming and firing every round it had, all while still walking towards Selvaria.

He was now less then 6 feet from her when he fired his last round and then threw his empty pistol at her. He then reached to his waist, and took hold of his Cutlass's hilt, this caused Selvaria's eyes to widen upon seeing such a weapon. So she quickly stepped forward, drew her shield arm back and hit Vyse with her shield, sending him up into the air and quite some distance back, until he landed and slide through the wet mud, stopping just in front of the Edelweiss.

Selvaria then began to slowly walk towards Vyse, eyes glowing, blue flames still burning brightly all around her. Vyse was stunned and winded by the blow, as he held his stomach and chest in pain, coughing loudly. He looked and saw Selvaria coming, but still hadn't caught his breath.

Just then, from behind Selvaria, Hector popped out of a blast crater, "VYSE!" he shouted, raising his lance up and taking aim at Selvaria, he then pulled the large trigger and fired off his last anti-tank round at Selvaria's back.

But she just smirked, and then spun around, deflecting his anti-tank round straight back towards him, he only had enough time to cry out in fear before the round slammed into the ground, near him. A ball of fire exploding high into the air and Hectors cries ceasing at the same time.

Vyse could only watch helplessly as the last members of his squad was killed; this caused him to release a cry, longer, louder and angrier then any he had ever done before. It even caused Selvaria to stop in her tracks and look at him. Vyse then got up, drawing his cutlass at the same time; he then stomped towards her, his eyes burning with a thirst for vengeance.

He then stopped just a short distance away from her, still breathing hard and heavy, eyes still burning, teeth now bared.

Selvaria looked at Vyse, and then her eyes drifted down to his long, cutlass sword.

"Foolish Gallian… do you even know how to kill me?" she asked.

Vyse growled in anger before raising his sword hand up, "I'll cut your damn head off!" shouted Vyse, "See if that works!"

Selvaria closed her eyes and nodded, "Hmmm… indeed you are brave Gallian. None before you have ever dared to face me one on one and with such a weapon."

Vyse chuckled and grinned, "That's because I'm not from Gallian, witch!"

Selvaria's eyes opened wide in surprise, "What did you say?"

"I said I'm not a Gallian, nor an Europan!" Vyse said

"Hmmm… so were do you come from then and why would you be here, fighting this war that's not even yours to fight?" Selvaria asked, taking a step closer to Vyse.

"Arcadia!" Vyse said proudly, "I hail from Arcadia and I came here to stop Tyrants like your master, Maximillian."

Selvarias eyes glowed brighter, "How dare you say that about my Lord Maximillian!" Selvaria shouted back, "He… He saved me from unspeakable torture and torments at the hands of those vile scientists from that evil research lab…. gave me a new life, a name, and the freedom to fight for his just cause… No Tyrant would ever give back so much!"

She then raised her lance up and it began to charge, Vyse bravely stood his ground, glaring at her the whole time. But suddenly the lance stopped spinning, the light disappearing. "You say you come from Arcadia… do they have good swordsmen from where you live?" she asked curiously.

Vyse nodded, "The BEST!"

Selvaria smiled slightly, and then planted her lance straight into the ground, and setting her shield down on the other side of her. Vyse didn't know what to make of it, was she surrendering or playing a trick. But he found his answer as she looked at him, smiling and reached her hand down to her waist. And it was only now that Vyse saw that she herself carried a sword. The hilt had some sort of extremely fancy looking hand guard that was black as night and as she drew her sword, it had a bluish tint to it, as if it was made out of some kind of metal or material that Vyse didn't know about. The blade itself was long and had an extremely sharp point at the end, the edges shone in the moonlight, obviously razor sharp as well.

She held it with one hand, then got into a ready position that Vyse had never seen before, "Come then… Arcadian!" She said, smiling, "Let us see how good your swordsmanship is, I've never faced an opponent who dared challenged me in this way."

Vyse glared at her, and then raised his Cutlass up, his other hand behind him, helping balance himself. Selvaria quickly shuffled towards Vyse and Vyse got ready to block her first swing, but was caught off guard when she immediately thrust her sword forward, rather then swing it.

He moved his head just in time to avoid being stabbed in the eye or worse, but the blade slid across his right ear. He then spun and swung his sword, trying to slash across her back, but she spun as well and blocked his attack with her own sword. She immediately recovered and stabbed Vyse in the right thigh in a forward thrusting motion once again.

He cried out in pain and looked down at his leg, and Selvaria pulled out her blade and stepped back as Vyse fell on one knee, groaning in pain.

Selvaria shook her head, "Is that all that you Arcadians possess?" Selvaria said, clearly disappointed.

Just then, from behind her came a screaming voice and Selvaria looked back and saw a bloodied, but still alive hector rushing at her, swinging his empty lance downwards like a massive club. Selvaria spun on her heels and raised her sword up, blocking the massive lance with just her sword, stopping it dead cold.

Vyse looked up, "Tha… that's impossible!"

Selvaria then pushed Hectors lance away and swung her sword once his arms were up, easily lopping off his right arm with a single swing from her sword.

Hector looked over at his severed arm and screamed, "MY ARM!"

Selvaria walked up to him and looked down, into his eyes and glared. "It's not your's anymore!" she said, drawing her sword back and making a clean thrust that stabbed straight through the middle of Hector's brave heart. He gurgled on blood that immediately came up, and then his head fell forward, eyes closed. Selvaria just closed her eyes and shook her head, "Hmmm… stupid boy." she said, then pulling her blade out, Hectors body falling to the ground soon after in a lifeless heap.

She then turned back around and saw Vyse rushing towards her, he then made 4 very quick slashes with his cutlass, all of which were easily blocked and parried by Selvaria. The two then locked swords and the weapons were locked in an X formation as both opponents pushed hard against the other.

The two then got nose to nose as they both leaned over their locked up weapons, Vyse glaring into Selvaria's bright, glowing red eyes. Selvaria just smiled, then with inhuman strength, pushed Vyse away from her, so hard he actually caught air, flying some distance back and then landed hard on the ground, sliding quite some distance away before coming to a stop.

Selvaria just shook her head as she walked towards Vyse, her blades tip hovering just an inch or two above the ground as she walked.

She then reached Vyse who was still on the ground, coughing and moaning. She then walked around him and kicked him hard in the stomach as he was trying to get up, sending him back to the ground.

She then stood over Vyse, kicking his sword away as he rolled over on his back and looked up at her, legs spread apart, one foot on either side of his body.

"This is the end for you… Brave Arcadian!" Selvaria said, raising her sword up and aiming the tip directly at Vyse's heart.

Vyse just chuckled and cough at the same time "Hehe… I'm not the only Arcadian here!" Vyse replied

Selvaria paused, "What?" she asked.

Vyse smiled slightly, "AIKA!" he screamed at the top of his lungs.

And from behind Selvaria, Aika came bounding over the Edelweiss, rifle in her hands with the bayonet now attached. She was screaming like a banshee as she jump from atop of Edelweiss turret, down towards Selvaria and drove her bayonet straight through Selvaria's shoulder, the red bloody tip appearing out the other side.

Selvaria cried out in in pain, and then turned around, smacking Aika across the face and sending her flying back, crashing into the Edelweiss's hull.

She then heard Vyse screaming in rage and upon turning saw him back on his feet, sword in his hand as he charged at her and he quickly slashed his blade across Selvaria's cheek, cutting deep and painfully.

Selvaria began enraged and when Vyse brought his sword around for another slice, she caught it, mid air and barehanded. Vyse's mouth dropped open in horror as Selvaria glared at him, then with one move, broke his sword in half and spun the blade around, then stabbed it right through his midsection, the tip appearing out of his back.

Selvaria then stumbled back and reached back, behind herself and grabbed a hold of the rifle barrel that was sticking out of her shoulder. She then pulled it out of herself and threw it to the ground in front of a bent over, heavily breathing Vyse Inglebard.

His eyes were bloodshot from extreme pain, but he saw what he thought appeared to be a smile form on Selvaria's lips. His eyes looked to her wound on her shoulder, which immediately began to heal and close up right in front of his eyes. And both ends of the wound that he had caused to her cheek began to come back together and healed much in the same way as the wound that Aika had caused.

"You see… you do not know how to kill me." Selvaria said, sheathing her sword and walking back to her lance that was still sticking out of the ground.

She the picked up her lance and her shield once more and turned around, Vyse was in too much pain to move or do anything to stop her now, for everything he had tried seemed useless now.

He looked over at Aika, who was unconscious against the Edelweiss, He wasn't afraid to die, just to leave her alone. "Hehe… sorry Aika… looks like my adventure… ends here." he said aloud.

Selvaria brought her lance up and aimed it at Vyse, still kneeling against the ground about 40 feet away from where she was standing. Her lance then began to glow and then slowly rotate around and around, slowly building up speed and a swirling blue light beginning to form around her lance as it charged up for a beam shot.

"Farewell, Brave Arcadian." Selvaria said as her beam let out a shrill shrieking sound as it nearly finished charging.

Suddenly, from her right side, a bright, blinding pair of headlights flashed on Selvaria, followed immediately by the sound of rapid fire from a machine gun. Vyse looked over and saw Nadine driving a bounding Gallian jeep, which was charging directly towards Selvaria, while Juno was standing in the back, firing a fixed machine gun position the jeep had.

The light from Selvarias spinning lance disappeared in an instant as she spun around and raised her shield up to block the incoming rounds, but could not move or attack while blocking. It was a brave plan, for Juno to keep Selvaria distracted and perhaps vulnerable by firing constantly from the machine gun position, while Nadine floored the gas and tried to drive her vehicle straight into her, but would it be enough?

Vyse watched as the jeep sped up, getting closer, the machine gun never letting up as it continued to fire at her with a never ending hail of large calibre bullets.

Selvaria still had her shield up as she looked over the top of her shield at the incoming, speeding jeep. She then locked eyes with the driver, a Darcsen girl who was screaming at the top of her lungs as she aimed her vehicle straight for her.

"Hmm… Foolish Darcsen girl!" Selvaria said aloud, and as the jeep nearly closed the final few feet, Selvaria bent down low and moved slightly to the left, and then with one mighty swing of her lance, struck the jeep in passenger side door. The severe blow caused the entire vehicle to swing violently to the left and catch air for a moment, then cartwheel and roll multiple times as it struck the ground hard. Small bits and pieces of it flying everywhere as it broke apart throughout the crash, one of it's tires flying off and bouncing along the battlefield, away from the rest of the wreckage. And now the jeep came to stop, upside down and in pieces.

"NADINE!" Vyse cried, trying to stand up, but immediately falling back down from the pain of the broken blade that was still lodged inside of him. He groaned loudly and held his wound, but looked up and saw Selvaria already walking towards the wrecked jeep. Once again planting her lance straight into the ground and discarding her shield and finally drawing her rapier once more.

Vyse growled and breathed in and out a few times and grabbed hold of the broke blade that was sticking out of his midsection and pulled as hard as he could, ripping it out of himself and throwing it to the ground. He then clutched his wound and put as much pressure on it as he could, to slow the bleeding as he limped towards Selvaria and the jeep that once held Juno and Nadine.

As he got closer he saw that Juno had been thrown out the back and was lying motionless in front of it, face down in the mud. But as Selvaria got closer, Juno started to raise her head and looked extremely dazed and confused after the wreck.

And as Juno slowly started to push herself up and regain her vision, she saw a pair of black boots slowly walking towards her, and that were not Gallian issue either. She looked up and saw a glaring Selvaria Bles slowly walking towards her, a deadly looking sword in her right hand. Juno immediately pushed herself up from the ground, bringing herself up to her knees, while at the same time reaching for side arm pistol that was in her rear pouch. But as soon as she brought it around and took aim at Selvaria, she swung her sword down and slashed Juno across the top of her right hand, leaving a deep gash. Juno cried out in pain and involuntarily dropped her pistol to the ground, leaving her unarmed and helpless now.

Selvaria then drew her sword back and delivered a straight, powerful thrust that pierced straight through Juno's heart, even going straight through her body, the tip of the sword even piercing into the side of the jeep that was directly behind her.

The blow drove Juno back and she slammed her back into the back of the jeep, eyes wide as she slowly looked down and saw a long, metal blade sticking straight out of her chest.

"JUNO~!" Vyse screamed from behind Selvaria after seeing her run Juno straight through with her deadly rapier.

Selvaria then removed her blade from Juno in one swift move and Juno fell to her knees, her eyes slowly growing darker as her breathing got softer. She then looked over at the Edelweiss and a single tear ran down her face. "Wel… Kin…" Juno said softly, her eyes closing for the last time as she fell forward, hit the mud and died.

Vyse lowered his head; he was too late yet again to save a member of his squad, now he not only lost his whole squad, but another team mate from squad 7 as well.

Selvaria turned around and looked at Vyse, who was just a few feet away from her. "Anymore surprises?" she asked, slowly raising her sword up and getting ready for another thrust from her rapier towards Vyse.

Just then, from the side, an angry, screaming Aika came charging. She jumped and tackled Selvaria and rolled along the ground with her.

"GO VYSE!" she screamed, "Save Nadine!"

Vyse didn't want to leave her, but he had to check and see if Nadine was still alive. So he quickly made his way around the jeep, while Aika tried to hold off Selvaria, bare handed, possibly sacrificing her life to do so.

But once Vyse came around the corner, he saw a terrible sight. He found Nadine, but half of her body was pinned under the wreckage, her arms out to her sides, eyes closed, and head bleeding. Vyse made his way over and knelt down next to her.

"Nadine… Nadine!" Vyse said, his voice shrill with fear and sadness at the sight of his unconscious girlfriend.

Nadine slowly opened her eyes and looked over at Vyse, a dazed look in her eyes. "Oh Vyse… I'm so sorry… I couldn't stop her…" Nadine said between short, laboured breaths of pain.

"No, you did great, you saved me back there." said Vyse, holding onto one of her hands, while crying.

He then looked at the wreckage pinning her down against the ground, he then let go of her hand and moved towards the jeep. He rammed his shoulder into it multiple times and pushed with all of his strength, groaning and grunting with effort. Fresh blood was now flowing from his stab wound as he continued to push, but he didn't care, he wanted to save Nadine.

But Nadine looked at Vyse, and saw the large amount of blood flowing from his wound and running down his jacket, down his pants and dripping to the ground.

"Vyse! Stop! Please STOP!" Nadine cried.

Just then, Vyse heard Aika scream loudly in pain, and then become completely silent soon after, that caused him to stop, his heart freezing in place.

He then heard the sound of footsteps coming from the other side of the jeep, towards him and Nadine. He turned around and held his arms out to his sides, shielding Nadine with his body. But he gasped in shock when he saw Selvaria come around the corner, dragging a lifeless looking Aika by one of her arms.

She then glared at Vyse and swung Aika by the arm towards him, her body crumpling to the ground just in front of him. Her eyes were closed and she didn't seem to be breathing, so he pulled her close and held onto her with one arm, while painfully reaching down to his boot and retrieving a small 3 inch pocket knife and flipped it open.

But even though he had his eyes open, everything seemed to be growing darker with each passing second. But he held the knife with a trembling hand while breathing hard and glaring at Selvaria, still holding onto Aika.

"Hmm… what do you hope to accomplish?" Selvaria said, "I can see it on your face and in your body, you're dieing Arcadian, and yet you still defy me, still challenge me."

Vyse bared his teeth at her while still breathing hard, "I may be dieing, but until I take my last breathe… I WILL FIGHT YOU!" Vyse growled, "I'll not stop defending the ones I love as long as I'm still breathing and I'll never give up until death comes and claims me."

Selvaria's glare disappeared, her face becoming neutral looking, she then looked off to the side, "Such love and devotion this one has for those he loves, so willing to die defending them without a moment's hesitation… not unlike what I'd risk for my Lord Ma-"

But her thought was cut short by a lancer round flying over her head, she ducked and looked to the north, and far off in the distance she spotted all of Squad 7 charging across the battlefield towards her.

She then looked down and sighed, "Alright, I won't finish any of you off… but given the severity of your wounds… none of you may live for much longer anyhow."

Vyse lowered his knife hand and closed his eyes, breathing a sigh of relief.

He then looked up and saw Selvaria looking down at him with a look of pity in her eyes. "You definitely are the bravest of the brave dear Arcadian. I have seen husbands abandon wives, brothers desert sisters, lovers forsake one another, all to save their own lives when faced against me. But not once, have I seen 1 man, fight so bravely, despite the odds to protect the one's he loves... indeed your kind is rare... Arcadian." Selvaria said, she then came to the military position of attention and brought her sword hand up close to her face, saluting Vyse respectfully.

Vyse just nodded back, his eyelids feeling heavy.

"Farewell Arcadian." said Selvaria, sheathing her sword, then running back to her lance and shield. Her body then glowed brighter as she took hold of her weapons, and then headed off at incredible speed, back to the East.

Meanwhile, Vyse carefully rolled Aika over and looked down at her, seeing two severe stab wounds to her chest and stomach. Terrified, he put his index and middle finger against her neck, checking for a carotid pulse beat. He felt one, but it was extremely weak. Next he quickly reached down to her pouches and checked all of them, and found what he was looking for, her ragnaid capsule. He quickly turned the dial and held it against her chest wound for a few seconds, then moved the glowing capsule down to her stomach wound and the bleeding at both areas stopped as the wounds began to heal.

Now, with Aika safe, he carefully laid her down and crawled on his stomach towards Nadine, his own wound still bleeding. And once he reached her, he looked around, but Nadine's own ragnaid was inaccessible now. Sadly, the lower half of her body was still trapped underneath the jeep, and all of her Ragnaid was in a red and white medical pouch, attached to her belt, and that could not be reached now.

But bravely, Vyse reached back to his own ragnaid pouch and retrieved his own capsule and moved it towards Nadine. But she reached out and grabbed a hold of his hands, shaking her head, refusing Vyse's life saving gift.

"No Vyse… save yourself." Nadine said weakly.

"But you'll die!" Vyse cried, tears forming in the corner of his eyes.

Nadine smiled up at Vyse, "But you'll live…" Nadine replied, her own eyes welling up with tears.

Vyse quickly shook his head, "No! No! I'm not going to let you die; I've got to save you!"

But Nadine maintained her tight grip on Vyse's hands, not letting them move. "You've already saved me Vyse… time and time again you've saved me." Nadine said, she then closed her eyes and released a sad sob, "You even saved me from myself…"

"What?" Vyse asked

"I joined the militia… in hopes that I'd die quickly in the 1st battle I was assigned to…" Nadine confessed, "I never told you this… but I lost my entire family to a Darcsen hunt that hit my village, just days before the war started. I had hoped to die right away, so that I could join them in the afterlife."

"Nadine…" Vyse said sadly, extremely hurt by what he was hearing.

"But you… you saved me from myself." Nadine said, "The day we met, and the way you treated me made me change my mind. I found something worth living for, and someone worth dieing for. I never thought I'd find that, never thought I'd be happy again, but you… you've made me so happy."

Nadine then coughed and groaned in pain, but she still tried to finish. "I only hope that I've done enough to make my family proud when I return to them very soon."

Vyse cried harder as he held onto Nadine's hand, "No… please… don't leave me here alone."

Nadine brought one of her hands up and ran it across Vyse's cheek, "You won't be alone…" Nadine said, she then slowly looked over at Aika, who was now breathing softly as he chest moved up and down but her eyes were still closed. "You still have Aika… and I know how much that girl loves you, maybe even more then I do."

"But… but I promised you… I promised to take you back home with me to Arcadia." Vyse cried, "I've never broken a promise, ever!"

Nadine smiled, "Then I'm sorry that this has to be your first…"

Nadine's eyes then closed and her breathing stopped for a moment, she then slowly reopened them. She then took the Ragnaid capsule from Vyse and turned the dial, and held it against his chest. The dome glowing blue and a blue radiant light covering his whole body, his wound starting to heal, blood flow from the wound decreasing.

"Vyse… Kiss me… one… last…. Time…" Nadine pleaded.

Vyse shut his teary red eyes and nodded his head; he then bent down and pressed his glowing blue lips against Nadine's soft lips in one last, sad farewell kiss. Tears streamed out the side of Nadine's eyes as she kissed her lover one final time. The kiss was long, but very sad, as both knew it would be their last, so they held it for as long as time would give them.

Nadine's lips then moved away from Vyse's, "Good-bye… Vyse…" she whispered and she took her last breath and closed her eyes for the last time as she laid her head back against the ground.

_**Hello Readers, believe it or not, this isn't the origional end to this chapter I had in mind. THIS was supposed to be the FINAL chapter, with the epilogue coming soon after. I wrote the origional ending, but didn't really like it, so I decided to change a WHOLE bunch of things.**_

**_Mr. wang called it when he said the "final farewells" chapter seemed like the prelude to an ending... it was. VC Lover said Naggiar was taking too long, only because it was ment to be the final stage of my fanfic, Runty called it when he saw a death flag for Aika, but there was also one for Vyse._**

**_Guess it won't spoil: The origional ending to my story was going to be a braveheart, 300 type ending, where the main characters bravely sacrifice themselves and thereby encourage or inspire an entire nation to fight harder then ever before, in memory of the bravest of the brave, who sacrificed themselves for the good of the nation. But when I wrote it, I decided... Nah, I can probably keep the story going if I change afew things, so I reversed the role of Vyse with Nadine in the final scene. Did it work out?_**

**As always, please read and review :)**


	52. Chapter 52

**Chapter 52- The end of an Adventure**

Vyse was looking down at Nadine with the saddest of eyes, his lips quivering as he choked on tears and sobs that were getting caught in his throat. "Nadine… Nadine please… please don't leave me" Vyse cried, softly stroking his hand down the hair on the side of her head and then down her cheek repeatedly. But there was no response from Nadine, she was gone, but he still didn't want to accept that fact.

But slowly, minute by minute, it was starting to hit him. Aika was the sole remaining survivor of the squad he lead against Selvaria, and though he may have saved Lieutenant Welkin, it came with the greatest of consequences, in that it cost Vyse everyone he lead to do so.

But the worst price he had paid in his rescue attempt was the life of his lover, Nadine. She was the very first Gallian he had befriended when he arrived so many months ago, and then fell in love with… but now, she was also dead.

Vyse's heart ached, his body felt heavy as a sea of tears finally fell from both of his eyes as he leaned over Nadine, looking down at her pale skin, her dark blue hair, and all the other features of her face that he had come to love throughout the long period of their friendship, then their love.

Some of his tears fell on her face, rolling down the side of her cheeks, one across her lips. He reached forward and brush that one away and then brought his forehead close to hers and softly rested it against hers.

"Nadine…" Vyse said once more, he then collapsed to his side and closed his eyes; wishing death would have taken him as well.

Just then, he heard someone in the distance, "There he is!" said someone who sounded like Marina Wulfstan. And though his eyelids felt heavy, he managed to open them for a moment and sure enough he saw Marina running up to him, in what looked like slow motion and then kneel next to him.

She carefully rolled him over on to his back and checked on his wounds, which were severe. And as Vyse turned his head, he saw Susie and Elysse checking on Aika.

He then looked back at Marina and saw her head turned to the side as he looked up at her, things still seemed to be moving slowly and her voice sounded far away and distorted as she called "Medic! Medic!"

She then looked back down at Vyse, "Vyse… hold on."

Vyse closed his eyes for what he thought was a moment, but when he opened them again he saw Fina and Gina appear, carrying a long white stretcher, one girl on either side to carry it. They then placed in on the ground next to him and one ran to his front, the other to his feet.

He knew they were going to take him back to base, but he didn't want to go, not without Nadine. So he reached over and took hold of her hand and held it tight, just as both girls were getting ready to lift him up and over to the stretcher.

They both stopped and looked at Vyse with sad eyes, neither had the heart to tell him to let go. So Marina took the matter into her own hands. She knelt down on one knee, placing her right hand on top of Vyse's.

"Vyse… you're going to have to let go now. She's gone, and that's all there is to it." Marina said plainly, "She cannot be saved, but you can. So it's time to let go… sir."

Both Fina and Mina were shocked by what Marina was saying, and with no emotion or consideration for his feelings. But it seemed to get through to Vyse, and he sadly nodded his head and let go of her hand. And now Fina and Mina were able to grab his arms and legs and move him onto the stretcher. But as they did, Marina reached down to Nadine's neck and carefully, and respectfully brought her dog tags out from under her jacket and removed them. She then reached down and placed her hand against Nadine's shoulder and lowered her head, saying her goodbyes to her silently.

Lynn then came around the corner of the jeep and immediately cried out in sadness and pain upon seeing her best friend Nadine, pinned under the jeep, eyes closed and not breathing. So she ran past Vyse, who was lying in the stretcher, just as Fina and Mina lifted and began to walk away.

Vyse was semi-conscious, but he still managed to lift his head and looked back at Lynn, who was now on her knees, crying hard and running her hand down Nadine's head and face, mourning her loss. He then saw Aika, his best friend, unconscious, but being carried in a white stretcher, the same as him. All of the medics had their heads down, eyes sadly looking down at the ground as they brought the only two survivors around the jeep and finally to the waiting eyes of the entire squad on the other side.

Everyone gasped, whispered in shock or was brought close to tears as they saw the normally charismatic, seemingly invincible hero, Vyse Inglebard being brought towards them, half dead and bloodied up in a stretcher, carried by Fina and Mina.

The gathered up squad then parted down the middle, to allow the medics through. But as he was being carried past the other members of Squad 7, nearly all of them reached out and touched him on the head, shoulder, chest or leg in sadness and pity.

Vyse looked up and over, seeing Susie crying hard as she reached out and touched Vyse on the shoulder, then he looked left and saw Elysse, head lowered and shaking it back and forth. Aisha had to be held back by Ramona Linton as young Aisha tried to run towards Vyse, he saw her saying something but she was too far away and he couldn't seem to hear anything, other then his own screaming heart, aching for all those he had lost.

He then looked to his left and saw a male medic wrapping a white bandage around Welkin Gunther's head. And when their eyes met, he saw the same sadness in Welkin's eyes, he must have also gotten the news of all those who were lost. But even with all that pain and sadness, Welkin still managed to nod his head to Vyse, silently thanking him for saving his life.

Vyse's head then rested back against the stretcher as he looked up at the sky, with dazed eyes, tears still flowing out of the corner of each eye and down his cheeks. The dark clouds seemed to be parting, almost directly above Vyse and he saw the moon and the stars in the dark blue night sky.

But just then he thought he had heard someone, speaking softly from the sky, "Vyse… please don't cry…" said the soft, female voice. "Nadine… will be safe with me. I'll look after her, I promise."

"Isara?" Vyse asked aloud, causing Fina to look back, she then locked eyes with Mina and nodded her head and both girls quickened her pace.

"_Got to hurry, Vyse still isn't out of danger_!" Fina thought to herself.

"Isara?" Vyse asked again, but this time there was no response, the clouds continued to disappear, more and more of the sky appearing. Vyse then slowly began to reach out, towards the sky, "Isara… Nadine…" Vyse said sadly.

Just then, a hand grabbed his own hand and upon looking over he saw Marina walking next to him, holding onto his hand, some kind of chain dangling from between both their hands. Marina then lowered Vyse's hand and arm back down to his chest and let go, patted his hand with her own and continued to walk next to her squad leader.

Vyse then looked down to see what she had given him and his eyes immediately began to water up with tears as he looked down at a pair of dog tags, attached to a silver chain with "Nadine" written on them, resting in the palm of his right hand.

He closed his hand around them and laid his head back, closing his eyes, letting the sounds of the battlefield fade away and slipping into unconsciousness for the rest of the way back to base.

Days had passed, and Vyse and Aika remained inside a large private medical tent, arranged by Welkin Gunther and set up by Fina and her siblings. But neither came out and no one was allowed in as Marina stood guard just outside the front entrance flaps, rifle slung around her shoulder, always remaining at the military position of attention.

From time to time, visitors such as Susie, Aisha, or other members of Squad 7 wanting to visit, check up on their condition or pay their respects to the two who had saved Welkin Gunther's life. But Marina let no one, other then Fina, the lone medic assigned to the two through. Everyone else she turned around and asked to leave.

Fina then returned with some food and drink in two separate trays and nodded to Marina, she nodded back and stepped aside, letting her through.

Once inside, Fina spotted Vyse sitting in his cot, Aika sitting next to him, head against his shoulder. Both still looked extremely sad and in despair after losing so many friends and Nadine, their closest.

Fina bit her bottom lip and walked up to the two, then set down the food down on top of a box, a make shift table and pulled it up close to Vyse and Aika.

"Here, thought maybe the two of you might be hungry." Fina said, neither said anything but they nodded to acknowledge her. Fina gulped and couldn't think of anything else to say, "Well… I'll be off then." and she backed up and out of the tent, leaving the two alone once more.

Aika sighed and reached for one of the plates and slid it over to Vyse, "Vyse… eat something." Aika said, Vyse rarely ate anymore and it took a lot of reasoning from Aika to get him to do so.

Vyse just reached forward and slid the plate away, "Not hungry…"

Aika closed her eyes and sighed again, "Please Vyse… don't make me beg you again."

Vyse grunted angrily and said once more, "I'm not hungry!"

Aika's hands began to tremble, so she shut her eyes and quickly stood up, throwing her plate against the far side of the tent, and it smashed against some boxes set up in the corner.

Outside, two regular soldiers walking past stopped upon hearing glass shatter and looked towards the tent, but one glare from Marina made them continue on.

"Vyse! Stop doing this to yourself!" Aika cried "Stop punishing yourself for what happened."

Vyse lowered his head, "It's my fault… I let them all die…" Vyse said, looking down at the ground. "Alex… Yoko… Wavy… Hector… and even… and even our best friend, Nadine."

"Do you think anyone of them, Nadine most of all, would want to see you like this?" Aika asked "Starving yourself, letting yourself whither away?"

"What else can I do?" Vyse asked "I've lost everything…"

Aika gasped, "Everything… what about me?" Aika asked sadly, "Am I nothing to you now?"

Vyse lowered his head, "No… of course not, you're still here, with me. That, I'm thankful for."

But Aika nodded her head upon thinking long and hard, "All of our friends are dead, our team mates are dead… what else do we have worth staying for?"

Vyse raised his head and looked up at Aika, "What are talking about?"

"We came here with nothing and for a while… we had everything." Aika said, "Good friends, good times and a beautiful land to see and explore. But now… when you look around… how much of that do we have left?"

"Aika…" Vyse said sadly

Aika's eyes began to well up with tears, "Our friends Vyse, they're all dead or gone." Aika said, a knot forming in her throat. "Isara… Wavy… Claudia Mann… Alex Raymond… and Nadine are all dead. Lynn will never speak to us again and we'll never see Catherine O'Hara again."

Aika then released a sad sob as some tears fell from her eyes and looked over at Vyse, "So why are we still here?"

"Aika… what are you trying to say?" Vyse asked

"Vyse… let's go home. There's no reason for us to stay here anymore." Aika said

Vyse shook his head, "No, there's still a war going on and we've still got to fight… somehow."

Aika shook her head as well, "Against someone like Selvaria… there's nothing any of us can do." Aika said, she then looked over at Vyse. "Do you really want to die here? So far away from home?"

Vyse sighed "No, but I don't want to run away either… I'm not a coward."

Aika began to get angry "Vyse! This isn't our home!" Aika cried "Why should we die here, in a land that's not our own, fighting a war that has nothing to do with Arcadia."

Vyse's own heart began to beat faster as the two were slowly slipping into a heated argument. He stood up and looked toward Aika. "Fine! Then you go home if you want to so badly. I'm staying here!"

Aika's mouth dropped open in shock, "Vyse, you want me to go back home… without you?" Aika asked.

Vyse's eyes looked off to the side angrily "It's obvious that you don't want to be here, so… go home if that's what you want. You don't have to follow me everywhere you know, so if you don't want to be here now, then leave. "

Aika began to breathe heavily as she walked up to Vyse, glaring at him, "I can't believe you… after everything I've done for you. Following you here to Gallia, jumping from a moving ship, signing up to fight in a bloody war and even saving you from Selvaria. And now you want me to just up and leave… Then what the hell did I risk my life so many times for!"

"I never asked you to, I never asked you to do any of that!" Vyse yelled back.

Enraged, Aika slapped Vyse, really hard across the cheek, sending his head swinging to left and remaining there as he continued to breathe deeply, in and out in anger. But when he brought his head back, Aika saw tears forming in his eyes.

Aika gulped and looked down at the ground in shame, "Vyse I… I…" Aika said, unable to form words, so she turned around instead and took a few steps away from Vyse and kept her back to him.

"It's my fault… just like everything else." Vyse said after a few moments of silence, "I messed everything up, lost all my friends and squad mates due to so many mistakes I made. But, I… I don't want to lose you too, Aika."

Aika didn't respond, but Vyse could see her shoulders moving up and down as she cried with her back to him.

Vyse then sat down once more in his cot, "I'm sorry Aika… I'm sorry for everything!" Vyse sobbed, head hung low in sadness and shamed.

Just then he felt Aika wrap her arms around him as she rushed up to him and hugged him. "Aika?" Vyse asked softly.

Aika cried hard while hugging Vyse, "Vyse… please don't cry. I'm so sorry for making you cry!" Aika sobbed into Vyse's ear, "When I see and make you cry, it just breaks my heart and makes me want to die!"

Vyse nodded and hugged Aika back and she sat in his lap while still hugging him. Aika then buried her face into Vyse's shoulder, "Vyse… I can't take… anymore of this war, it's all too much to handle anymore. Look at what its doing to us, our friendship is in real danger here." Aika said, "So please Vyse, let's… just run away together… tonight."

"Run away?" Vyse asked.

Aika nodded, "We'll sneak out of the camp, tonight. Avoid the roads and travel only at night and make our way all the way back to the ocean on the western shores of Gallia, from there we'll find a ship that'll take us back home."

Vyse moved back and looked Aika in the eyes, "You're serious?" Vyse asked.

Aika nodded her head once more, "You must understand Vyse… we don't belong here. This is not our war, this is not our home and we… have not been home for so long."

Vyse slowly nodded his head in agreement, "Y-You're right, maybe we have been gone for way too long… maybe it is time to go back."

Just then, behind the two of them, they heard a soft female voice, "If your wish is to go home, I will grant it."

Vyse and Aika gasped and looked towards the entrance, and there, wearing some sort of white and blue battle dress, was Princess Cordelia herself, her head dress was gone and she had silver hair, much like Selvaria's. She also had an escort of two high ranking palace guards, dressed in white and blue uniforms, standing on either side of her and Marina standing just behind them. Neither Aika nor Vyse had realized that she was standing there at the entrance or for how long. But both of them stood up in her royal presence and bowed to her, but she shook her head and held up her hand.

"Please, you need not rise or bow before me." said Cordelia "I come only to speak to and see how two of squad 7's bravest soldiers are feeling."

Marina sighed, "Sorry sir, I couldn't refuse the Princesses request to see you."

Vyse shook his head, "It's alright Marina, and she is the Princess after all."

Cordelia then approached Vyse and Aika, "I've spoken with Lieutenant Gunther and your Captain Varrot earlier. Both told me the terrible news… about what happened to your squad, mister Inglebard. And I'm so very sorry to hear that." Cordelia said, "But both also told me of your incredible bravery and selfless act of saving Lieutenant Welkin, as well as the Darcsen tank driver known as Zaka and the Edelweiss tank pilot, Mr. Kreis."

Vyse nodded, "But so many died during the rescue, many of them our friends."

Cordelia lowered her head and cupped her hands together in front of her. "Yes, I heard of the many brave sacrifices that night. All of them will be honoured and their families told of their heroism."

Cordelia then nodded like she remembered something and gestured to one of her officers, dressed in white behind her. He came forward, carrying two fancy looking boxes. Cordelia took one and held it out to Vyse and he took it, she did the same with Aika and they both had one in their hands. Cordelia then smiled at Vyse.

He looked down at the box and opened it up, revealing a large, silver medal with a very fancy blue and white ribbon. "Gallian Medal of Honour" a golden engraving underneath read.

Vyse looked back up at Cordelia in shock, she just smiled back. "You've more then earned it, mister Inglebard. For all your brave and selfless acts that have saved so many throughout the war, my own life included."

"I have one more gift." Cordelia said, "If you wish to return, back to your homeland, then I will grant you my Royal Pardon from military service. You will even be escorted all the way back to Randgriz Harbour and given one of our ships to return home, if you so desire."

Vyse closed the box and sighed, "I… I do not know what to say."

"Search your heart, what is it that you wish to do?" Cordelia asked.

Vyse looked over at Aika, "I'll stay with you Vyse, no matter what you choose. And should you wish to continue fighting, I'll stay by your side and fight with you, once more."

Vyse's eyes looked off to the side and he sighed deeply as he searched his heart and thought long and hard about what he wanted to do, taking Aika's feelings into consideration this time.

Meanwhile, outside, all of Squad 7 had gathered in a large, semi-circle around Vyse and Aika's private medical tent. There were hushed whispers and quiet conversations going on between squad members, as well as many worried looks. Everyone had seen Princess Cordelia enter the camp, and then head for Vyse and Aika's tent, all had gathered to see what was going on.

Just then, Princess Cordelia came out first and everyone got down on one knee and bowed low to her, her officers followed next, then Marina. A few seconds later, Vyse, then Aika came out and everyone immediately cheered.

"He's alive! Vyse is alive!" Aisha cried

Ramona and Freesia hugged each other as they cheered and cried tears of joy. Susie was jumping up and down, clapping and cheering as well. Edy Nelson reached over and head locked Homer Peron while cheering, even Jane crossed her arms and smiled. Montley and Elysse hugged each other and jumped up and down, both bursting with excitement after seeing Vyse up and walking once more. But Lynn and Karl remained quiet as they looked on.

Suddenly, Vyse raised his right arm in the air and everyone became quiet, some shushing other's who were still cheering.

Vyse took a deep breath, "Men… and women of Squad 7!" Vyse called out and everyone took a step forward, leaning in closer to hear him.

"Aika and I we… we…" Vyse said, eyes glancing left and right at the anxiously awaiting members of Squad 7, everyone leaned in even closer and became even quieter.

"We're going home." Vyse finally said.

There was a silence, so heavy; you could hear a pin drop.

"What?" Aisha cried

"Home?" Edy said, looking over at Homer, "They're going…home?"

Everyone then began talking to one another all at once, and there were many confused, some disappointed, sad faces all around.

Aika reached over and took hold of Vyse's arm as she looked at all of the members of Squad 7, all clamouring together, all looking back and forth in confusion at one another. Vyse then looked over at Aika.

"We're going home…" he said to her, she nodded sadly and both of them turned and went back into their tent, while the rest of squad 7 continued to clamour, cry out in disappointment and sadness or beg them to stay. Marina then moved back in front of the front entrance and took up her guard position once more.


	53. Chapter 53

Chapter 53- ….

Vyse and Aika were nearly finished getting ready to depart from Naggiar. Vyse had just finished putting some supplies and his civilian clothes into a duffle bag; Aika was folding up her cot. The tent set up for Squad 7 was nearly empty, save for Vyse, Aika and Cordelia and her guards. This was allowed to give Vyse and Aika the distraction free environment they'd need to get packed and leave the plains of Naggiar, and then head back to Randgriz. Both of which were mere stepping stones on their long journey home.

Vyse finished loading the last of his supplies into his duffle bag and sighed. He stood up and took one last look at his footlocker. The one which held his former Blue, black and white Gallian militia uniform and battle armour. The same ones he had worn during the many months of his service in the war. But now, would no longer be needed. For he was now dressed in simple civilian clothes, as was his best friend Aika. Their lives as soldiers were now over and it was time to go home, back to Arcadia.

Vyse stood up, put his duffle bag over his shoulder by the strap and took one last walk around the squad tent. A sad look on his face as he gave everything he had grown so accustomed to one last final look. He then looked over at Aika and said "Come on baby… time to go home."

Aika simply nodded her head and walked up to Vyse, and stood next to him. "I'm ready…" she replied

"Care for an escort?" Cordelia asked

But Vyse shook his head, "No, we'll make our own way to the transport," he said "For there are still some people that we need to say farewell to first."

Cordelia nodded her head "As you wish, we'll await your arrival at the camp exits." and with that she departed with her royal guards.

Aika was nervous about leaving the solitude of the squad tent. For she knew what awaited them outside. But she put on a brave face and followed Vyse as he exited first, with her following right behind him. And sure enough, her fears were met in the form of the cries and pleas of all her squad mates, begging them to stay. Why Vyse opted to go unescorted, she didn't know, for she knew this would happen.

"Vyse, Vyse please don't go!" Ramona cried, she followed for a few steps, but stopped when she noticed Vyse was paying no attention to her.

"So you're just going to cut and run is that it?" Edy asked angrily, Vyse just walked past her and kept on going, even as she continued to glare at his back, ever growing further away.

"Mr. Inglebard, Mr. Inglebard, you can't leave us!" Aisha cried sadly, grabbing a hold of his sleeve and pulling on it. But Vyse continued on, eventually pulling away from Aisha and leaving her behind.

And on he went, some members were begging him to stay, others were a little bit angry at his unwillingness to stay and fight any longer. And still, there were some others just silently watching from a distance.

But Vyse walked past all of these, always keeping his eyes forward, searching for those he needed to speak to before leaving. His normally happy face was gone, replaced by a blank, emotionless gaze. The loss of Nadine was still very fresh in his mind, as well as all those members of his squad that had also died. Both of those kept him unable to smile or to be the brave, bold, confident and fearless man that he once was. He wanted more then anything to just leave and never come back, for he had no reasons left to stay. But still, before he left, he had some loose ends to tie up.

He eventually found who he was looking for, the senior officers of Squad 7. All were standing outside of a small, private medical tent. This was set up for Alicia Melchiott. Sadly, she was unconscious after being shot during the last great battle that raged all across the plains of Naggiar. But as he got closer, he noticed that he only saw Rosie, Largo and Captain Varrot standing outside, talking to each other.

Vyse gulped and made his way over, and eventually their eyes turned and watched Vyse approach. Their eyes were just what he expected to see, sad and disappointed. Not the smiling faces that he was used to seeing anymore.

Eventually Vyse reached them, but no one spoke for a few awkward seconds as they each looked at each other. So Vyse spoke first "Is the Lieutenant in?"

"You mean is Welkin around?" Rosie corrected, looking at him with a strong glare.

"Y-yeah… that's what I meant." Vyse said, breaking her gaze.

"You can still call him by his first name; it's what he'd want. You don't have to change it just because you've decided to leave." Largo added.

Aika's heart was beating hard and deep in her chest. For she was nervous about being around the senior officers now, the same ones she had served under for so many months. Even now, she could feel their resentment towards the two for giving up their uniforms and cause to fight, while there was still so much fighting left and so much at stake. All she wanted to do was leave the base and head back to Randgriz, then for home.

Captain Varrot nodded her head, "He's inside, and you may enter if you wish." Varrot said, pulling the entrance flap to the side, wide enough to allow Vyse through.

"Thank you." Vyse said

And with that he ducked under the flap and entered the tent, Aika following right behind him.

As soon as they were in, they saw Welkin. He was sitting on a small stool, with an unconscious Alicia across from him. She was lying in a white medical cot, covered in a white sheet and wool blanket. Her trademark red and white headscarf was removed, showing all of her long brown pig-tailed hair. She looked so vulnerable right now. Before her injury, she was one of the rare soldiers who never stopped smiling or trying to do whatever she could to help others. But now, she was severely wounded and unconscious.

Welkin had his head in his hands and didn't notice Vyse or Aika standing there. So Vyse cleared his throat and immediately got Welkin's attention.

"Oh… hello Vyse… Aika…" Welkin said softly, he then stood up and walk towards them.

He seemed a little bit shaky on his feet as he walked towards them. And Vyse couldn't tell whether it was because of his previous injuries he had received during the last battle or because of his sadness and grief over the condition of Alicia and the loss of Juno Coren, his best friend.

But he managed to reach them and smile a tiny smile. Vyse and Aika instinctively saluted him, as they had many times before. But Welkin didn't return the salute, "No need for that… you're not soldiers anymore." Welkin said "Let's just… shake hands and say our farewells."

Vyse and Aika nodded and both reached out and shook Welkins hand, one after the other.

"It's sad to see you leave…" said Welkin, "But at the same time I'm happy. If you two can get out alive while you still can… then please do. I've already lost too many squad members in this war. If I can let two leave alive and well, then maybe it'll help make up for all those who have died in this war."

Aika nodded "How… how's Alicia?" she asked

Welkin grimaced slightly at that question and Aika immediately regretted asking. But Welkin eventually replied, "It's hard to say, she's been unconscious for days and not showing much sign of improving. She might not make it either…"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to-" Aika started, but Welkin cut her off with a raised hand.

"No, it's not your fault," said Welkin "I'm sure you're both worried about her, the same as I am. But I think… I think she'd be happy to know that you two, our bravest heroes get to go home and be safe from this war."

"Thanks Boss." said Aika

"The both of you have already done more then we could ever ask for. You've saved so many lives in this war, done so much for a country that isn't your's and fought just as hard and as long as any full blooded Gallian has throughout this entire war. Even now I still can't believe you've both been here since the first days of the recruitment drive at Randgriz."

"Yeah… we have…" Vyse replied, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"All the same, good luck on your trip home. You should both be very proud of yourselves and all of your accomplishments throughout the war," Welkin said "I and so many others owe you our lives, let us repay you by wishing you the best of luck on your trip home, wherever you call home is."

"Arcadia…" said Vyse. Aika looked over at him and gritted her teeth together. Arcadia wasn't well known throughout the many places he and Aika had travelled to, including here and she didn't want Vyse telling anyone. As it was an agreement that Vyse and Aika had made with Vyse's father, Dyne. Their home was a nice secluded paradise and he wanted to keep it that way.

"Right, well good luck on getting back to Arcadia… my Arcadian friends." Welkin said. Smiling once more before going back to his sitting position beside Alicia's bedside.

"Good-bye… my Gallian friend." Vyse said in return.

"Good-bye Boss… it's been an honour serving under you." Aika added.

And with that, the duo left the tent and shook hands with Largo, Rosie and Captain Varrot, biding them farewell. The two then began the walk towards the awaiting transport, the one that would take them back to Randgriz.

* * *

Along the way, they happened to pass by Squad 7's tent, set up among the others. And both inside and out, they saw a lot of movement and activity. Like there was a massive operation about to take place. So Vyse stopped in his tracks, but Aika tried to keep going. But she too finally stopped after she saw that Vyse was no longer following.

"Vyse… come on, time to go home." Aika said aloud.

This caught the attention of Lynn, who was outside with Karl, helping him load equipment into his engineers backpack and pouches. But she only looked at the two for a moment and continued on.

But Vyse went back, rather then continue on. He had to talk to Lynn before he left; he had to apologize, even if she wouldn't listen. He needed to say he that he was sorry for all he had done and for all that had happened.

However, once he reached the two, neither paid any attention as they continued on with what they were doing before. Vyse cleared his throat, but was only met with two glares, one from each of his former friends before they looked back down at their original task.

"What is it…?" Lynn asked without looking up at Vyse.

"I just wanted to say… I'm sorry, sorry for all the mistakes I've made in the last battle. I cost you both two very dear friends…" said Vyse.

"…" Lynn didn't reply, neither did Karl.

"I… I hope you two get will still get married some day, when this war is over." said Vyse

Lynn shook her head, got up and turned her back to Vyse, crossing her arms at the same time. But Karl got up and walked to Vyse and removed his right glove and held up his hand. This was now ring less. "The weddings off…" said Karl.

"Why?" asked Vyse, shocked to hear this news. The two seemed so excited and happy to get married to one another and now this.

Lynn turned around and walked towards Vyse. She was looking at him with an emotionless gaze. "There's no point anymore…" she said, "Anyone that we ever wanted to invite to the ceremony is dead… Nadine, Isara and Wavy were to be our most honoured guests. The one's that we really wanted to have attended. Neither Karl or I have a family to invite, so there'll be no witnesses now and there's no one else I can think of… who's worth inviting anymore."

"Lynn, I'm… sorry." Vyse said sadly.

"Sorry… sorry… you're always saying that you're sorry!" Lynn screeched "Sorry doesn't bring back any of my friends, sorry doesn't change anything that's happened, sorry doesn't make up for all of this."

Vyse just lowered his head, and Aika had finally come back and began pulling on his arm. "Come on Vyse… let's go." she begged, still pulling him by the arm.

"Yes, go home. Leave all of this behind, it's not your fight anymore." Lynn said "Why should you care, you get to go home, away from all this war. Now you'll get to grow old and die a peaceful death many many years from now."

Vyse again stopped in his tracks, but didn't turn around. "So go home! I look to real Gallians for their courage; none of us would ever leave, not even if we had the option to!"

Vyse remained where he was, looking down at the ground sadly. Lynn was still shouting angrily "After all we've done for you foreigners! YOU COWARDS, TRAITORS!"

Vyse turned, but Lynn was already stomping away angrily. But Karl remained where he was, but now he had an angry glare on his face. A change from his normally timid and nervous face. Vyse walked up to him and lowered his head. He then held his arms out, presenting his Medal of Honour that he was given to him by Princess Cordelia herself.

"Send this to Wavy's wife and kids… I don't care for medals." said Vyse

Karl took the wooden box and opened it. He looked down at the large silver medal with a blue and white ribbon. But shook his head, "I may not be able to deliver it for you. Very soon we'll be moving out, to the East. So find someone else to do this for you."

"Why?" asked Vyse

"Because, we're heading out East. All of us, the entire army and all of the Militia squads." said Karl "We're making one last stand against the Imperials. But we are greatly outnumbered, by at least three to one. And the enemy still has their Valkyira on their side. It is a battle that we cannot and will not win. But we will not retreat, we will not give up. We know what awaits us… and we are prepared to meet it. We may not survive this battle, but still… we'll march. All of us for our own reasons. For our friends, for our families, for our lands and for our freedom… we'll march. "

Vyse lowered his head once again, "I'm…" but he didn't finish, for two reasons. He knew that Karl didn't want to hear him apologize again and he had also turned his back and was walking away.

So Vyse turned, still holding his medal and returned to Aika. She took his arm and together they continued towards the camp exits.

* * *

Lynn was walking past the squad tents. There were tears of anger and grief running down her cheeks as she walked and tried to wipe them away at the same time. But just then she heard someone calling her name.

"Lynn… Lynn…" said the voice weakly.

Lynn stopped and turned. She saw a very tired, but also very drugged up looking Cezary Regard lying in a stretcher with many other patients on either side of him. They were the injured soldiers who were already being loaded into transport trucks that were to be taken away from the battlefield on Naggiar.

Lynn sniffled loudly and wiped her nose with the back of her sleeves, she didn't look at Cezary, but asked "What is it?"

Cezary must have been given a lot of medical ragnaid, to dull the pain of his badly broken leg. The same one he had received from the massive fall from his sniper tower, after it was taken out by enemy mortar fire.

Cezary looked up at the cloudy, grey sky with glazed over eyes. "I'm… I'm sorry…" he said softly.

Lynn just scoffed and shook her head, "I'm not the one you should be apologizing to," Lynn said, still looking forward, not towards Cezary to her right. "It's Nadine that you should be saying sorry to…"

Cezary nodded his head, "I can't now…"

Lynn finally turned to Cezary, hands placed on her hips, while glaring at Cezary. "No, you can't!" Lynn growled, "She's dead, but before she died she… she saved your life. I don't know why she did it. Even after all your racism, all your arrogance and all of your hatred and teasing that you vented towards her, time and time again… she didn't hesitate to come and save you."

Again Cezary nodded, and now she could see tears forming in the corners of his eyes.

"Now you feel sorry… only now, when it's too late, do you feel sorry for what you've done to her!" Lynn screamed.

And now, nearby medics took notice. Both moved in quickly, one on either side of Cezary's stretcher and bent down, taking hold of the handles, trying to get him away from Lynn. Also, Karl had come running, after hearing how worked up Lynn was getting towards Cezary.

Karl ran in front of Lynn and tried to hold her back from attacking Cezary as the medics scrambled to get him away from her and onto a nearby medical truck.

A crowd was starting to gather, made up of regular and militia soldiers, all curious to see what the shouting was all about.

Karl was still trying to hold Lynn back, "Cezary! I swear, I will never let you forget this. You, and I, as well as every member in Squad 7 and here WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER! THAT YOUR LIFE WAS SAVED BY A DARCSEN!"

Cezary was then loaded onto a medical truck, with Karl trying his best to hold back a kicking and screaming Lynn.

* * *

Back in the camp, as Vyse and Aika neared the camp exits. They happened to spot Marina Wulfstan, leaning against the sandbags. She raised her head and watched the two approach. Once they were close enough, she got up and walked the rest of the way towards them.

"So… you're really leaving?" Marina asked

Vyse looked away, but Aika nodded, "Yeah, we're all packed and on our way back to the Capital," Aika said "From there, we'll have a ship take us back home."

"So on the eve of the biggest and possibly final deciding battle of the entire war… the two of you are going to abandon the men and women of Squad 7?" Marina asked next, giving a slight glare.

"They're better off without a screw up like me getting in the way…" Vyse responded, still looking off to the side sadly.

"What makes you say that?" Marina asked while tilting her head.

Vyse sighed long and sadly, "Everyone… everyone I lead on that rescue mission… died because of me." Vyse responded, "Even… even Nadine and Juno died that night. So much death… and it's all because of me."

Marina shook her head, "As I remember it, you asked for volunteers. The rescue mission wasn't because you ordered it, it's because the others wanted to follow you and to help rescue THEIR lieutenant."

Marina took a deep breath and sighed, "And do you know why they followed you?"

Vyse raised his head and looked over at Marina; Aika also remained quiet and awaited Marina's answer.

She finally opened her eyes and looked directly at Vyse, glaring. "Because they BELIEVED IN YOU!" she screamed. "They believed in what you wanted to accomplish that night, by not standing by and letting our lieutenant die. I'm sure that they believed that if they did die, then you'd still be there to carry on the mission and cause of Gallia for them."

Vyse was shook, surprised by Marina's angry outburst. But she took a deep breath and continued on, a little more calm this time.

"You've had more of an affect on this squad then you both realize," Marina said, she then pointed to Aika. "You, always the first to follow Vyse into any situation, no matter how dangerous. Always standing up for him and defending him when other's question his decisions. You made other's want to do the same."

Marina then pointed at Vyse, "And you, you may not be from Gallia. But you've fought just as hard, if not harder then any full blooded Gallian. Also, you've more then made up for it with your daring, confidence and popularity that you gained very early in the war… everyone in the squad looked up to you.

Aika was starting to get angry; she was only making her best friend Vyse feel worse about leaving. "Marina, that's enough!" she shouted "He already feels terrible with all that's happened. Don't make him feel any worse!"

Vyse was starting to get teary eyed, "How can I forget that all my squad mates… died because of me. They were like a second family to me," Vyse said, his voice cracking with sadness. "Even… even my beloved Nadine, the girl I loved so much and made a promise to… to take her away from all of this, so that she could finally be happy."

Two tears fell from Vyse's eyes, "But I couldn't keep my promise… I couldn't protect her or any of them. I failed…"

Marina shook her head; her patience was starting to wear thin as well, for nothing she was saying was registering with Vyse.

She walked forward and placed her hand on Vyse's shoulder, causing him to look up. She then motioned with her head towards the camp behind Vyse. "Look at the squad Vyse, look at their faces." she said.

Vyse looked back, as did Aika. And most of the 7's were still preparing to move out. But many had their heads down; hopeless looks were painted on their faces. He then turned back to Marina, but didn't say anything.

"Think about what you're doing, Vyse," Marina said, "How do you think it makes everyone else feel… to see the bravest, strongest and most daring member of the entire squad… running away with his tail between his legs. If the strongest man in the entire squad has given up and flees the upcoming battle, then what hope do they have to survive it?"

Vyse's eyes looked off to the side sadly once again, "What am I supposed to do?"

"Stay." Marina said, "Stay and fight."

Vyse looked back up, eyes red from crying. "Stay…"

Marina nodded, "You Vyse… you truly have become the heart and soul of the squad. When so many have given up, you always push forward. You even came and talked me back into rejoining the fight, after I had given up on ever being able to pick up my rifle again. Your confidence, willingness to fight and never ever give up has given hope to so many. For if one man, not from here can do that, then those who do live here, have to fight just as hard for their home."

But Aika wasn't going to have any of this kind of talk. So she stepped forward and gave Marina a shove out of the way, grabbing Vyse at the same time with her other hand and pulling him past her.

"Our decision is made, we're leaving." Aika said quickly, while pulling Vyse right behind her.

As they were leaving, Marina spoke aloud once more "If you leave now… then I saw you truly are cowards, the both of you!"

Aika stopped and glared back at Marina, Vyse just looked over his shoulder.

Aika stomped back towards Marina and drew her hand back, to give her a slap across the face for those insults. But as her hand neared Marina's face, she easily caught her hand by the wrist and stopped it, looking back at her with a cold, emotionless gaze.

"Enough! Both of you!" Vyse said running back to the two.

Marina scoffed and released Aika's wrist, which she rubbed.

"Aika… just give me a few minutes alone… I'll catch up." he said. Aika sighed and nodded her head and continued on towards the exits.

Vyse then sighed and looked back up at Marina; she looked back at him with her single, unblinking violet eye for a few silent seconds.

Marina shook her head, "You're definitely not the same leader that we once had… what happened to you?"

Vyse lowered his head, "I can't forget what happened… I shouldn't have led that mission."

"I'd hate to say this, but those lives that were sacrificed were for the better good. You saved our Lieutenant, Welkin Gunther. Do you think any of them regret dying for that cause?

I don't think so, so many would have given up if he had died. He's the single most important man in our squad. Our squad, Squad 7 might not even exist right now if you, Vyse Inglebard, hadn't have saved him that night."

Vyse sighed once again, and then looked at Aika, who was still walking towards the camp exits.

"This decision is not just for myself. It's for Aika… I owe it to her for dragging her here. She followed me, even when she didn't want to. Now I owe it to her to go back with her now that she wants to."

Marina balled her right fist up, causing it to shake. But she then unclenched her fist, "Alright, then leave." Marina said, turning and walking away slowly.

Vyse closed his teary eyes and nodded his head; he too then turned and started to walk away.

But after a few steps, he heard Marina call his name. "Vyse!"

Vyse stopped and looked back, and he thought he saw Marina smile a small smile. "You've also done one more thing for us!" she said, "You and Aika have shown us that this Valkyria, this Selvaria Bles… can bleed, just like any other human. She can be injured, she can be hurt and maybe… she can be killed. So thank you for that."

Vyse didn't respond, but Marina now smiled a visible smile and made her way back to the squad tent.

* * *

Vyse watch her walk away for a while, then turned his head forward again and continued on. Finally reaching Aika after a few minutes walk. He looked at her, she looked back at him and she could see his cheeks quivering and some more tears in his eyes. So she walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close, giving him a hug. He didn't return the hug as she cried on her shoulder, but still she held him.

Princess Cordelia and her guards were also near the car. She looked on with sad eyes and moved up to them to speak. "It's alright. There's no need for you to cry," she said "Please don't feel bad about leaving, know that we are happy for the both of you. Just return home, with your heads held high, filled with pride for how much you helped a country that is not your own."

Vyse looked over at Cordelia, but didn't say anything. She just responded with a smile. "Go now, be on your way."

"You're not coming?" Aika asked.

Cordelia shook her head, "My place is with my people. I'll stay here with them, on these very fields… no matter what the outcome."

Vyse looked at Cordelia, now extremely worried for her safety. And she could see it on her face. But she shook her head, while still smiling. "Don't worry about me, my men will fight to the very last, to protect me." she said, she then nodded and her smile disappeared. "Now go, please, I beg of you. Go while you still have time!"

Aika nodded and ducked into the awaiting car. Vyse stood there, looking at Cordelia with sad eyes. He was then pulled into the car by Aika, the door closed by one of her guards. Once Vyse looked out the window, he saw Cordelia's royal guards salute him and Aika, Cordelia bowing low to the bow of them. The car then started up and the driver began to pull away from the encampment.

Vyse and Aika looked back through the rear window, watching the camp grow smaller and smaller, until finally it disappeared.

The next few moments were sat in silence. Aika sat on one side, near on of the windows, Vyse on the other. She looked over at Vyse and he had his head hung low, eyes closed, but he was still awake. So she moved over and leaned against him, grabbing his arm and wrapping it around her as she laid her head against his chest. Vyse opened his eyes and looked down at Aika; she looked back at him and managed a weak smile.

"Don't worry Vyse, soon we'll be on our way home." she said, "And once we finally reach home… we'll be able to forget all of this someday."

Vyse didn't say anything, so Aika continued. "We'll be safe at home, together. And maybe… maybe some day we'll finally be together, as lovers. We'll get married, start a family, and name our sons and daughters after our friends here. Then we'll grow old… and watch them grow up to be fine young men and women."

Vyse then raised his head up, "Stop the car!" Vyse ordered.

The driver looked back, "Sir?" he asked.

"Stop the car!" and this time the driver obeyed.

"Vyse… what are you doing?" Aika asked.

Vyse took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. He then looked over at Aika, "Aika I… I won't… run away…"

A look of shock and horror immediately covered Aika's entire face. "WHAT?"

Vyse's breathing increased, "I'm going back…"

He then began to open the door, but Aika grabbed his by the back of the shirt. "No VYSE!"

But he pulled away from her and began to walk through the mud, back towards the encampment. Aika got out and ran up to Vyse, sinking to her knees as she grabbed him around the waist and tried to keep him from going.

"Vyse, don't do this. We can get out of here, we can go home and we can live." Aika cried.

Vyse was silent for a few moments, but then spoke. "No… we couldn't. I couldn't."

Aika released Vyse and stood up, turning his body with her hands until he was facing her. She then grabbed and shook Vyse by the arms. "What are you talking about?" Aika asked "Didn't you hear what they said. They want us to leave, to live and be happy."

Vyse nodded, "I could leave and I could live, but to be happy… I could never, never again do that if I left now."

"If you go back there, you could die!" Aika screeched.

"If I die, it'll be doing what's right." Vyse replied, "I will not abandon these people, these people who have become our friends and who've come to look up to us. Marina was right, if I leave, then the squad's moral goes with it."

Angry tears were welling up in Aika's eyes, "So you'll go back and be a hero for doing so, even if you could very well die doing it!" Aika cried "You just love being a hero don't you! Promotions, celebrations, respect, love from your peers… Hell you'll probably become the Militia Commander someday right. But Vyse… why don't you ever think of me and what I want."

Vyse shook his head, "This isn't about being a hero or getting something out of going back." Vyse said "I go back because I could never live with myself if I abandon everyone now."

"But-" Aika started

"I know what it is you want Aika… but I cannot give it to you… not now." Vyse said, "My heart tells me to go back, to help these people fight for their freedom."

Tears fell from Aika's eyes, "But this isn't our home Vyse!"

Vyse shook his head, "No… but it is Nadine's home. It is Ted's home and Alex's home. It's the home of all those who have died in this war and it's up to the living to fight for it. To protect it with their very lives if necessary."

Aika sighed in defeat and lowered her head, "Alright, if that's what you want… we'll go back."

"No, not you." Vyse replied

Aika raised her head back up, "What?"

Vyse walked up to Aika and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Aika… this is a decision I have made for myself and myself alone." Vyse said "I have absolutely no illusions about this choice; I know what the odds are that our friends in Squad 7 face. But I also know that not one of them… will ever give up. They'll head east and make their last stand against the Imperial Army, even without officers like myself or Lieutenant Welkin to lead them. Older soldiers like Rosie and Largo, the young ones like Aisha are all on the march, even though they know what awaits them… even though they know that it'll most likely be their last battle.

But if my going back can give them strength and courage to face death, then I'd return a million times over to give it to them."

Aika shook her head, "But why… why are you doing this to me…" Aika cried, tears flowing down her cheeks.

Vyse pulled her close and hugged her, letting her cry against her chest. And with his mouth close to her ear he whispered. "Do you remember the day that we arrived in Gallia…" he asked.

Aika continued to sob, but nodded her head. "Do you remember that beach we ended up on after jumping ship? The one where we took our first steps on Gallian soil?", again Aika nodded. "The sky was so blue, so few clouds… the waters were so cool and clear. The sands were so warm as we walked across the beach inland."

Aika softly rubbed her head against Vyse's chest. "The grass was so green on the fields, the mountains in the distance so beautiful and snow capped…"

Vyse nodded, "And everything we've seen since then… has been just as beautiful. The woods of Kloden, the sparkling city of Randgriz. The beautiful town of Bruhl, surrounded by grassy plains, filled with all those beautiful flowers. Even the burning sands of Barious had their own kind of beauty."

Aika nodded in agreement, but then moved her head away from Vyse's chest and looked back up at him. "Why are you talking about such things now?"

Vyse sighed and placed his right hand underneath Aika's chin and slowly turned it to the side, towards the dead, barren, black, crater filled plains of Naggiar. The sky never seemed to clear here and was always black and gloomy.

"If the Empire wins… I think all of Gallia will looked like this. And… and all of that beauty that we once remembered will be gone. Gallia's soils will be dug up in search of Ragnite, their waters polluted with waste from the mining machines. Their trees will be torn down and cleared for more mining. The towns and cities that we've come to know will be burned and razed to the ground… Gallia as we know it will be gone.

Even if I leave and survive… and maybe someday returned, I couldn't bear to see such a beautiful country destroyed and in such a said state."

"Vyse-" Aika said

"That's why I'm going back." Vyse said, "Those are my reasons… I know what it is that you want me to do, but I won't leave."

Aika continued crying and said nothing, "If you want to go back, let it be because it's what you want. Make the decision as if I weren't here and as if my opinion didn't matter. It's the only way I'll let you come.

Don't follow me because you feel that you have to or because it's your responsibility. Make your own decision and take all of the risks involved into account. If you can do all that and choose to stay, then I'll let you come along."

Aika nodded and looked down, her face showing that she was deep in thought. But Vyse took a few steps back away from Aika.

"What's your decision?" he asked after a few moments.

Aika's cheeks trembled and some tears fell from her eyes, she shook her head. "I'm sorry… I'm not like you; I don't have your courage…"

Vyse nodded his head, "I have to be getting back, and I should have enough time to reach the camp before the army moves out." Vyse said, turning and starting the walk back along the road.

"What am I supposed to tell your father… and your mother when I get back?"

Vyse stopped, but kept his back to Aika. "You tell them that their son, Vyse Inglebard, is still in Gallia. Tell them that he's fighting with everything that he has to help a country win their freedom. Tell them that if I don't come back… then it's because I gave my life, in service to this great country and these great people."

And with that Vyse continued on.

"VYSE WAIT!" Aika cried, running up to him.

Vyse turned and looked at Aika, but didn't say anything. Neither did she, instead she took hold of Vyse's dog tags with her right hand and pulled them up and out from underneath Vyse's shirt. She sighed sadly and reached up to her ears, unhooking her two, beautiful, and green ragnite Crystal earrings from her ears. She looked up at Vyse with teary, red eyes and clipped both onto Vyse's dog tags chain, one on either side of his dog tags.

She then took hold of Vyse's hands, looking deep into his eyes. "Kiss me Vyse… kiss me before you go. Please."

Vyse took hold of Aika and pulled her close, pressing his lips against hers. And their kiss was long, but sad, as each was going their own way now and may never see each other again. A few seconds later Vyse moved away from Aika and looked down at her, staring into her beautiful green eyes.

He then reached up with his right hand and removed his large black eye patch from his head and placed it into Aika's hands. Aika held it to her chest, "Please Vyse… promise me that you'll come back. If you say you will, then I'll believe it, no matter what. Please Vyse… give me something to hope for…"

Vyse looked off to the side sadly, "You know I don't make promises that I don't think I can keep. I only promise something if I know that I'll fulfill it 100%

And I have absolutely no illusions about what I'm about to do. I know that my going back probably won't change the outcome of this battle on bit. I know that I probably won't be coming home, but I also know that I'd never be able to live with myself if I let Nadine down by running away, not trying my hardest to fight for her home.

And I know… that this is likely to be a one way trip…"

"Please Vyse… promise me." Aika begged.

Vyse gave Aika one last look, then turned and continued on. He didn't say it; he wasn't going to promise something that he knew he probably couldn't keep. But he had said everything that was in his heart and given all of his reasons for going back. So there was nothing left to say.

"Good-bye Aika…" Vyse said softly as he quickened his pace and was now running as fast as he could back to the encampment.

And almost as if Aika heard him, even though she didn't. She watched him get further and further away before she replied "Good-bye… my love…"

* * *

**_Hello Readers, sorry, but this is an extremely rough draft right now. But I told myself tonight, "Sit down, write the next chapter and don't stop till it's done. I said that at 10:30 P.M. and it is now 3:05 A.M._**

_**So sorry if this is extremely rough and unrefined, but I think it'll get the point across. check back in like 2 or 3 days and maybe I'll have re-edited this with an improved and refined version if this one doesn't seem right. I know it's probably not, but I spent 4.5 hours on it. and delayed the story for far longer then I intended. My schedule is extremely busy, so I may not get to re-editing it in the next few days, but let me know what ya think.**_

_**Maybe I'm over reacting, just my sense of this not being perfect :P. But enjoy and as always, Read and Review, all kinds of comments are welcome. Shout out to the one who asked me to insert a memory/flash back to the beach scene.**_


	54. Chapter 54

**Chapter 54- United we stand**

The Gallian militia had already left the base and was on its way to the East, to meet the Imperial Army. The Gallian regular army, however, was still inside the main encampment. Its commanders, Head General Damon, Captain Varrot and Princess Cordelia were inside the General's tent, the topic they were discussing was a very disturbing one, for it required the sacrifice of the entire Militia.

"You can't be serious!" Captain Varrot exclaimed

"I'm quite serious Varrot," General Damon said next, "The militia shall be deployed as a rear guard against the advancing Imperials, while the regulars, along with Princess Cordelia will pull back to Randgriz and begin setting up defences within the city. It's a perfectly sensible plan."

"General! Those are my men and women out there!" Captain Varrot argued, "If you think I will let you sacrifice the lives of thousands of my soldiers than you-"

"Silence Varrot!" General Damon roared, "You dare to call your group of farmers and peasants with rifles… soldiers?"

"They are soldiers General, just as good as any of your regulars." Varrot said, "My men and women have contributed just as much to this war as any of your regulars have. They've fought, died and done their duty just as loyally too."

Princess Cordelia wasn't sure what to say at that moment to make things right. So she quietly remained at the side of the table while Captain Varrot and General Damon argued.

"But my men and women have been in the army and trained far longer and harder than your conscripts have!" Damon yelled, "We'll need all of them alive if we hope to hold out in a siege that is sure to strike the capital of Randgriz once the Imperials rip through your militia stationed out in the East."

Varrot shook her head, "You make it sound like you already know what the outcome to this battle will be. My soldiers will not go down as easily as you think."

Princess Cordelia finally decided to side with Varrot on this matter. "General, I do not think it wise to abandon those brave men and women out East. Recall them and we'll all head back to Randgriz together."

General Damon shook his head, "Forgive me Princess, but what do you know of war?" Damon asked, his strong glare made the Princess look away, "If all of our forces pull out now, the enemy will be hot on our heels and pursue us all the way back to the capital and besiege us before we are even ready."

"It's a simple matter of strategy. We leave the militia here, to hold back the enemy forces while I- I mean we, yes, we retreat back to the capital and set up defences within the city. True, we may lose half of our forces, but the better half will survive. My regulars are far superior to Varrot's army of conscripts who up until recently never fired a weapon." Damon continued

Princess Cordelia lowered her head for a moment with sad eyes, and then looked over at Varrot, who was silently pleading her to listen to reason and not abandon the militia to their doom. But Princess Cordelia finally looked away and sighed sadly.

"I… do not know what to do." she said sadly.

"But I do!" Damon said, quickly exiting the tent and walking towards the middle of camp. Many of the regular soldiers who were standing around all watched Damon walk by, followed by Varrot, Princess Cordelia and the regular commanders and officers.

"This is an order!" Damon shouted with his hand against the side of his mouth, "Break camp! And prepare to retreat back to the capital!"

There were many appalled gasps from the surrounding regular soldiers; some quietly looked at each other, unsure what to make of this new order. And no one moved at first.

"Break Camp!" Damon shouted at the top of his lungs, spinning around in a circle with both hands cupped around his mouth.

"You cannot do this General!" Varrot cried angrily.

Princess Cordelia looked all around her, at the soldiers who were now starting to take down tents, running all around camp, trying to get everything ready and move out as fast as they could.

"No…" she said softly, she cupped her hands together and looked around for anyone who would listen to her. "Please, no!" she cried, looking at the officers and commanders behind her. But they looked away; they didn't dare oppose General Damon, the commander of the Regular army.

"General! I will not allow you to sacrifice my troops for anything!" Varrot cried, reaching down to her side arm pouch and unclipping the button. But two of the regular officers next to her each grabbed an arm and stopped her, then tried to keep her from struggling while a third quickly moved forward and took her side arm pistol from it's pouch.

General Damon turned and saw Varrot struggling with his officers, he then became enraged. "Guards, arrest her for treason! No one tries to pull on a gun on me, a General!"

Now even the officers turned and looked at General Damon, he was being unreasonable now. They to being leaders of men understood her frustration. So none of them moved or took her away like ordered, they just looked at General Damon with surprised eyes.

And even many of the regulars who were working on preparing to move out stopped and looked at the strange scene going on. Damon looked all around him; no one was moving or obeying his orders.

"Did you not hear me?" Damon yelled, "I said arrest her for treason and get back to work, we must move out as soon as possible!"

"General, you must try to calm yourself." Cordelia said softly

But the General was throwing a tantrum like a child, now he was stamping his feet against the ground and waving his arms up and down. "Obey my orders now! Obey me! Obey m-"

But his shouting was cut short by a flying fist to his face, his hat falling off with the sharp movement of his head to the side, but he was still standing. Now, with his nose bleeding and seeing some stars, he looked over and saw Vyse Inglebard shaking his head, "Coward." he said, he then punched General Damon hard in the stomach, causing him to lurch forward, next a knee was thrust sharply upward into his face, knocking the fat bastard backwards, onto his back, unconscious.

"Mister Inglebard…" Cordelia said softly.

"Vyse… I don't know where to start with you." Varrot said, officers still holding onto an arm each.

Vyse looked over at the officers holding his Captain, "Release her!" he ordered, the officers responded right away and let go of Captain Varrot.

And now, even more Regular soldiers were approaching the strange spectacle. All were looking down at General Damon, then to Vyse, no one quite sure what was going on, or quite what to make of it.

Captain Varrot walked up to Vyse and looked him in the eye, "Before I say anything else, let me ask… what are you doing back here?"

Cordelia nodded in agreement, "I thought you had wished to return home," She said, "So how come you have returned?"

Vyse shook his head, "I returned because… I wish to fight for Gallia, our home, once more."

Cordelia's eyes widened, "Our home?" she asked.

Vyse nodded, "I have lived and fought here for many months now, and my connection and love of this land has become just as strong as my love for my homeland. That being said, I would no sooner abandon Gallia, than my true homeland of Arcadia if it were in danger of being conquered by evil invaders."

Cordelia held a hand against her heart, touched by Vyse's devotion to Gallia, "Vyse…"

"There's a war to be fought, and won," said Vyse, turning back to Captain Varrot, "So Captain, if you'll return me back into active service, I'll gladly rejoin Squad 7 and help you fight the Empire once more."

Captain Varrot was listening to Vyse's request, with her arms crossed, but didn't answer for a few seconds. She then walked up to Vyse, "Do you know what's going to happen out there?" Varrot asked, pointing to the East.

Vyse shook his head, Varrot then continued. "Right now the Militia is alone and greatly outnumbered, by at least 3 to 1. And we've lost many of our tanks to that powerful Valkyria. And once she arrives on the battlefield, she'll easily wipe holes in our lines with that lance type weapon that she wields into battle. And what's left of our forces will undoubtedly be hammered relentlessly by the massive Imperial force that'll be following right behind her."

Varrot lowered her head, "In all honesty, I think you were better off leaving while you still had the chance. We have no defence or ability to fight back against that Valkyrian woman, Selvaria Bles. This is a battle where the odds are greatly greatly in the Imperials favour."

Vyse took a step towards Captain Varrot, "So you think that victory is impossible, out of our reach?" Vyse asked.

Varrot looked back up, "I didn't say that!" she said sharply, a small smile then spread over her lips, "I was just about to say that it would be quite difficult."

Vyse grinned back at her, "I always love a challenge!"

By this time, thousands of Regular soldiers were now crowding around the Princess, the unconscious General Damon, Vyse and Captain Varrot.

"So what do ya say Captain, will you give me another shot?" Vyse asked with a grin.

Varrot smiled and nodded, "Very well, you're returned to active duty status as of this moment."

Princess Cordelia looked down at the unconscious General Damon, then all around her and was surprised to see that everyone, including Vyse and Captain Varrot were looking at her, like they were waiting or expecting her to say something or command them to do something.

Princess Cordelia's hands were trembling, but she clenched them together and walked over to a nearby blue and white Gallian jeep and stood in the back of the topless jeep, looking out at the sea of soldiers in Blue, Black and gold uniforms of the Regular army, now it was her turn to be brave like Vyse Inglebard.

"Soldiers! My fine soldiers!" she said aloud, everyone becoming absolutely silent, "Right now, thousands of our fellow countrymen are making a desperate stand against the advancing Imperial army. They are greatly outnumbered and without hope of victory if we do not rush to go help them.

General Damon would have us abandon them and flee back to the Capital of Randgriz. But these are our not just our soldiers. These people are our brothers, and our sisters. These people are our family and our countrymen, and we cannot forsake them."

There were many heads nodding in agreement amongst the vast sea of soldiers.

"I know what the odds are of our success, but I also know that I will not abandon my people. We face a tough and determined enemy, whose military mighty is greater than ours at the moment. So I shall not order any of you to accompany me, but I go now to save these brave souls gathered in the East… who will come with me?" Cordelia asked loudly.

And not even 1 second after Cordelia finished her speech, Vyse walked up to her and stood in front of the jeep she was standing inside, the first volunteer. Captain Varrot followed immediately afterwards and sided with Princess Cordelia. And all at once, thousands of soldiers began to walk forward, some even stepping over top of the unconscious General Damon, cheering loudly, so loud it all blended into one deafening uproar. All of them, siding with Princess Cordelia to rush to the aid of the Militia.

Princess Cordelia was so touched at the sight of the loyalty of her people that she brought her hands up and cupped them over her mouth, her eyes beginning to well up with tears.

And someone started a chant of "Cordelia! Cordelia! Cordelia!" and that chant was followed by the thousands of other soldiers gathered around her jeep. Soldiers were pumping their fists high into the air, weapons raised up in the air as well, some jumping up and down and clapping and continuing to cheer.

As everyone continued to cheer, Captain Varrot put her hand on Vyse's shoulder and got his attention. "Go Vyse, go and get ready to move out as soon as humanly possible." she ordered, pointing towards Squad 7's tent, "Now MOVE Vyse!"

Vyse grinned ear to ear, saluted her and let out a loud "Yee-haw!" and moved past the cheering soldiers as quickly as he could.

* * *

Within a matter of minutes he had his Gallian militia uniform back on, armoured pads included and he slung his machine gun over his shoulder, taking many spare clips of machine gun ammo from the nearby armory and putting them into the appropriate pouches and clipping grenades onto the back of his belt.

He was now ready to depart with the rest of the army, but as he was about to leave he happened to look over and see a pad of paper and a pen sitting on top of a nearby table. So he rushed over and began to write a message as quickly and as neatly as he could.

But soon he heard and felt the ground rumble with the rhythmic movement of thousands of pairs of feet marching left, right, left, and right. The sound of tanks driving away from the base followed close by, the entire army was now on the move, heading eastward to help the Militia fight the Empire.

And from the nearby entrance to the squad tent, Varrot stuck her head in. "Hurry Sgt. Inglebard, the army is already on the move and it's a long way until we reach the Militia." Varrot pleaded.

Vyse had just finished writing his letter and quickly looked it over.

It was addressed to his mother and father, a letter to be delivered in the case of his death.

"_**Dear Mother and Father**_

___**If you are reading this, then sadly it means that I have fallen in battle and shall not be returning home. But please do not weep for me; remember me for the actions I have taken on this, my last, great adventure. This land I am in now, this land called Gallia is so very beautiful. So lush and green and filled with the kindest and most generous people I have ever met.**_

_**If the two of you could see Gallia, you would know why I'm so ready and willing to sacrifice my life for this country. In all the places I have ever been, I do not think there is a place like it anywhere else. That is why I have given my life in service to this great country.**_

_**By now, I'm sure that Aika will have arrived back home. I sent her back to you, so that at least one of us shall survive and carry on the name of the blue rouges. She will undoubtedly be very sad and guilt stricken at my loss. She wanted to stay here with me, but I felt that the danger was far too great, so I sent her back. Please tell her that none of this is her fault, and that I'm happy that she stayed and fought with me as long as she did. She was a good soldier, but a better friend… there is none in the entire world better than her.**_

_**Good-bye, Mother, Father. Thank you for everything you've both done for me, I only wish I could have seen and hugged and kissed you one last time. And I only have one last request for the two of you… please take care of my darling Aika Thompson.**_

_** Your Loving son, Vyse Inglebard**_."

Once he had read the entire letter over and wiped away a single tear, he folded it up and rushed towards the exit and began to walk with Captain Varrot.

Outside, the army was moving in a giant column. Tanks were driving down the center of the road leading to the East and there were two giant columns of armed soldiers moving at double quick time on either side of the road. And nearby, watching the entire march was Princess Cordelia, still in the back of the jeep, awaiting Vyse's return. And when he and Captain Varrot reached the jeep, they both saluted the Princess. Captain Varrot got into the drivers seat, Vyse into the passengers side, with Cordelia in the back. The jeep then began to drive past the tanks and soldiers, moving to the head of the column. Along the way, soldiers cheered as the jeep drove past.

Vyse took a deep, nervous breath then looked back at Princess Cordelia who was in the back of the jeep.

"Something wrong Mister Inglebard?" she asked, slightly worried at his almost sad looking face.

"Princess… I have a letter here, something personal that I would like you to deliver for me… should I fall in today's battle." Vyse said, holding the letter out to her.

Captain Varrot looked over at Vyse, and was a bit saddened. It seems that even he understood how slim the chances for victory were now, even with the aid of the regular army. But he was still going, even though he once had a chance to leave.

Princess Cordelia nodded after a few moments and took the letter from Vyse, "I will do this for you Mister Inglebard." she said, "And thanks for staying with us. You do not know how much it means to have you here, fighting along side us, in battle for our home."

Vyse smiled and nodded, "Our home… our home…"

Captain Varrot nodded and reached over, placing her hand on Vyse's shoulder, "Our home…" she said while smiling.


	55. Chapter 55

**Chapter 55- A well earned Gift**

The militia was out in the far east of the plains of Naggiar, getting hammered relentlessly by a very large Imperial force that was slowly advancing towards them, though it was not the main Imperial force, rather a vanguard force.

Shells from tanks exploded all across the Gallian defensive line, bullets and tracer rounds filled the dark sky as both sides fired at each other. Squad 7 was located at the very center of the small defensive line that was trying to hold back the Imperial army. And fortunately for them, Selvaria Bles had not shown herself on the battlefield just yet. But then again, she might not have to, for the Gallian Militia were suffering so many casualties that day and becoming weaker by the minute.

A large explosion rocked Welkin's tank hard to the right, but it remained on all treads. Welkin steadied himself and looked back through the scope, eyeing a large Imperial tank advancing towards them, firing shells at them.

"Almost… almost!" Welkin said aloud as the tank was nearly in the middle of his crosshairs, a moment later it was dead center, "FIRE!" and the Edelweiss's mighty barrel fired a shell at the tank, blowing it to smithereens.

But another explosion to the left, rocked the Edelweiss once more and Welkin quiclly righted himself back up into his seated position as he looked through the scope once more, spotting at least 3 more tanks appear as they rolled up over a nearby hilltop.

"Damn… for every tank we take out, three more take its place." Welkin said to Kreis.

"S-sir, d-d-do we really have to stay here and fight?" asked Kreis. "We're greatly outnumbered and outgunned."

Welkin sighed, "I know Kreis, but withdrawal is not an option." said Welkin, "We still do not know if the Princess has been evacuated. If she has not and we retreat, we'll put her life in great danger. So until we get word or otherwise, here is where we stay."

Kreis lowered his head for a moment, "Understood sir…" he said, tightening his grip around the steering wheel of the Edelweiss.

Meanwhile, outside, Rosie was a few meters ahead of the Edelweiss with the rest of the foot soldiers inside a deep dug trench, on a raised hill that put them just a few meters below Welkin's tank. All of them were firing at the large Imperial force.

Rosie ducked back into the trench and loaded one of her last 3 remaining machine gun magazines into her machine gun. She cocked back the firing bolt, but looked down and to her right, at the little Darcsen protective charm doll that she had received from Isara. She reached down and held it in the palm of her right hand, her machine gun raised up in her left.

Despite all the gunfire and explosions going on, she happed to smile a little bit, "Well kid, looks like I'll be joining you pretty soon kiddo," Rosie said. "The thought of joining you and the other's we've lost in this war isn't so bad… kind of something to look forward to and not be afraid of…"

Another explosion went off nearby, throwing dirt and other falling debris into the small trench that everyone was huddled inside. Rosie grunted angrily, "I looked forward to joining you, but sorry to say, that you'll have to wait… just a little longer!" and Rosie stood up once more, bringing her machine gun up to her shoulder, then spraying bullets wildly left and right, not really aiming, just spraying and praying.

Close-by Largo had his shoulder against the earth wall of the trench and was carefully peering over the top of the trench, spotting a large column of tanks coming towards them. He got back inside the trench and looked to his left and right, to the other lancers of Squad 7. No words were needed as he nodded to them all.

"Eat this Imp!" Largo bellowed as he stood up from the trench as did the other lancers and all fired their lances at nearly the same time, some missing and striking the ground near the tanks, others were more lucky and hit dead center. But only 2 out of the 5 tanks were destroyed. But in the long run, those losses didn't seem to matter to the Imps, as even more appeared, rolling over the distant hills, hundreds of foot soldiers running beside or behind them.

"Running low on ammo!" Karl shouted as he knelt down with his open backpack in front of him. Every few seconds soldiers from Squad 7 would run up to him to receive more ammo after they had run dry, but very soon he would have no more to hand out.

Dallas handed the last 2 clips of Machine gun ammo to Wendy and Jane before yelling "I'm out!"

Nearby, Edy Nelson was firing over the top of the trench, but her gun let out numerous 'clicks' as the last of her bullets were gone. She reached over, held out her hand and yelled, "Homer!" Asking for more ammo. And she felt one more clip enter of the palm of her awaiting hand.

"Last one, Miss Edy" Homer said kind of sadly.

"Guess I better make them count!" Edy said while chuckling.

Suddenly, all the firing on one side seemed to stop, much to everyone's surprise. And soon after all firing on the Gallian side had stopped as well, soldiers curiously poking their heads out from the trench, wondering why the Imperials had stopped shooting at them. Now they saw why all the firing had stopped. The Imps had stopped advancing completely, and in the middle of all the packed Imperial soldiers and tanks, stood Selvaria Bles, her body bathed in the glowing blue light or flame as she was seen with on the field of battle previously.

"Oh no… it's her," said Elysse Moore, dreadfully.

"This. Is. Bad." said Jane Turner.

"I don't wanna die, I don't wanna die…" Susie Evans said, trembling in fear, crouched down in the trench. But Jane Turner knelt down and patted her on the shoulder.

"Be brave girl, face death like a man… so to speak."

"Oh well, at least I get to die with a lot of handsome hunks all around me. Couldn't ask for a better death!" Freesia York said with a grin.

Rosie just lowered her head and placed it against the earth wall in front of her, this was it, in just a few moments she'd be with Isara and the other members of Squad 7 who had died in previous battles.

Across from them, Selvaria eyed the small Gallian force that stood between them and the rest of Gallia and the Capital of Randgriz, the Imperial Armies objective. But there had been so much killing over the past few days that she decided to offer them another way out. So she walked forward and began to address the Gallians in a loud and echoing, other worldly voice.

"Listen to me Gallia!" she said, "Cast aside your weapons, and surrender! If you do not, Naggiar's plains will drink deeply of your blood!"

The soldiers behind her all raised their weapons up and cheered loudly in a single deafening uproar.

All of Squad 7 ducked back down into the trench at nearly the same time, Welkin also came out from the tank hatch and looked down at his soldiers. All of them were in their own little worlds as they either looked up at the sky, down at the ground or prayed with their hands cupped together.

Rosie looked over at Largo and smiled, slapping him on the shoulder, "No Retreat…" she said, Largo smiled, "No surrender…" he said next.

Rosie then looked around at the soldiers who had turned their attention to the both of them. She smiled and said aloud. "No Retreat! No Surrender!"

There were a few nods, some balled their fists up and nodded as well.

"We're with you, Rosie!" Jane said, pounding her fist against her chest, "For Gallia! For Freedom! To the Death!"

"Yeah! Yes! For Gallia!" the other's said immediately after.

Rosie looked up at Welkin and he nodded and smiled.

"So be it, we'll give these Imp Bastards a response they'll never forget!" she said, cocking back her machine gun loudly, "And we'll all fight together… One Last Time!"

"YES!" Largo bellowed

Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield, Selvaria was surprised to see that none of the Gallians had surrendered or appeared from the line of trenches. So she walked forward, pointing her lance threateningly towards the Gallian lines.

"Gallians! Throw down your weapons and surrender!" she yelled her other worldly voice echoing across the plains.

Still no response, she breathed deep while glaring at the Gallian lines, angered by their silence. But that silence was broken by a single, loud, echoing boom.

And as she looked up, she saw a brightly glowing, spinning tank shell flying towards her. But she drew her lance back and swatted away the single shell with ease, sending it flying up towards the sky and exploding a split second later. The troops around her instinctively ducked down before looking back up at the Gallian lines.

And amidst all of the sandbags and other defences, a single red headed soldier appeared before them, "Imperials!" she said, raising her machine gun up, hundreds of Gallians all across the line appearing from the trenches, like an army of gophers sticking their heads out of their burrows. And all of the soldiers had their rifles, machine guns or lances aimed over the top of the trenches, aimed directly towards the Imperials.

"You want our weapons, then come and get them!" Rosie screamed, squeezing the trigger and firing off a hail of bullets that flew towards the Imps. A volley of bullets and lancer anti-tank rounds followed right after Rosie fired her burst.

"Insolent Gallians!" Selvaria growled as she backed up with her shield raised in front of her body, blocking the incoming rounds. She looked back at her soldiers and was about to wave her lance forward, signalling them to charge. But something caught her eye, something white and bright that stood out in the black, barren wasteland of the Naggiar plains. And she could scarcely believe it herself when she realized what, or rather who it was, looking down at them from atop the distant rolling hills.

"Princess Cordelia…" she said softly, looking up at her, standing alone from atop her distant hilltop position.

At the same time, someone on the Gallian line's shouted "It's the Princess! The Princess is here!"

Everyone stopped firing and looked behind their position and spotted her, alone, staring down at them from high up on the hills.

"It can't be…" said Welkin as he appeared from the tank hatch.

Meanwhile Selvaria closed her eyes and smiled, "Hmph, what a fool," she said to the soldiers next to her, "The Princess has come here and all alone too. This will make our mission a whole lot easier."

An officer next to her was looking at the princess with a pair of binoculars, but slowly lowered them, "She's not alone…" he said with a shaky voice.

"What?" Selvaria looked back up and this time spotted a man and a woman standing on either side of her. And though he was far away, Selvaria recognized him right away, "It's the Arcadian… he still lives."

At the top of the hill, just behind the Militia defensive line, Princess Cordelia, Vyse Inglebard and Captain Varrot looked down at their Militia allies and the large Imperial force across from them. Vyse quickly un-slung his machine gun from his shoulder and held it high in the air with one hand, looking over his shoulder at the same time.

"Regulars!" he shouted in a loud, echoing voice.

* * *

Just then, all across the hilltop appeared dozens of blue, red and white tanks. They were almost evenly spaced apart as they drove forward, coming to halt at the top of the hill. Next came wave upon wave of tens of thousands of Gallian regular soldiers; dressed in blue, black and gold uniforms of the Regular Army also appeared. They took up positions both in between and behind the tanks, fully armed and ready for battle.

Some of the Imperial soldiers next to Selvaria began to visibly tremble and back up a few steps as they looked up at the new massive force of Gallian soldiers, who's numbers were now far greater than their own.

Selvaria just lowered her head, closed her eyes and smiled, "This is a surprise…"

Across from them, the Militia soldiers began to cheer joyously and hug each other. Reinforcements were finally here, along with the Princess herself. She had not abandoned her people, like some of them had thought. Not only that, she had come with the entire Regular army.

"Never thought I'd be so happy to see those bastards!" Jane said while shaking Susie by the shoulder.

Finally, Princess Cordelia stepped forward, ahead of all her soldiers and raised her right arm high in the air, looking back at her soldiers, and then to Vyse, who nodded his head while grinning.

"Now, my brave soldiers… Forward into Battle!" she yelled while waving her right arm forward. Not even 1 second after she had given the command, Vyse Inglebard was the first to charge down the hill, followed immediately by Captain Varrot, both were yelling while running down the steep hill.

All at once, soldiers and tanks began to charge forward, down the hillside, covering the black, barren plains of Naggiar in a sea of blue, white, black and gold from their uniforms and tank armour. All were yelling and shouting, causing the Imperials across from them to back up even more as they looked at the sea of soldiers that filled the entire horizon, charging straight towards them.

Selvaria looked back at her men, then to the new Gallian army that was headed towards them. She kept her eye on the young man that was in front of the entire charging army. The Arcadian, the one she had let live. She looked forward to facing him again, but her thoughts then turned to her soldiers and she waved her lance back and shouted, "All forces, pull back to the main army, we'll return once we have gathered our entire invasion force." she ordered. All of her soldiers obeyed. The tanks going into reverse and driving backwards across the plains of Naggiar, the soldiers did an about-turn and hurriedly made their way back East, to join up with the rest of the Imperial army that was located less than 4 miles away.

* * *

Not long after, the Regular army joined up with what remained of the Gallian militia army. There were many handshakes, hugs and other grateful expressions being exchanged between the regular and militia soldiers. Finally, after some searching, Captain Varrot and Vyse made their way through the trenches and the sea of soldiers and were able to meet up with Squad 7. There were many wide eyed stares and gasps as everyone saw Vyse Inglebard, back in uniform and back on the battlefield.

"M-mister… Inglebard?" Aisha asked, still unable to believe it was really him that she was looking at.

"Vyse…?" Freesia asked

Many of the other members of the squad just stared silently at Vyse as he looked back at them in silence as well. But Vyse didn't know what to say to them, for he still felt ashamed that he had almost abandoned them and acted so coldly towards them, when he was about to leave for home. Even more, he still felt terrible that he caused so many of them to lose friends because of his rescue mission, a few days earlier.

So Captain Varrot decided to step up and she placed a hand on Vyse's shoulder while looking at the rest of the squad, "Soldiers of Squad 7!" she said in a loud and clear voice, "As you can see, Vyse Inglebard has indeed returned to the squad. So I hope you all realize what this means and what he has given up in order to be here with us."

Some of the squad members nodded, other's remained quiet, like Marina, Lynn and Karl.

Captain Varrot then put her arm around Vyse's shoulder as she continued on, "For him it means so many things…

He knows just how desperate our situation, here on this battlefield is. He knows that the Imperials far outnumber us and still have the Valkyria on their side. He knows exactly what his chances of survival are and just how bloody and deadly this upcoming battle will be…" said Varrot sadly, "And lastly… he knows that if this day does not go our way… then he knows that he'll never see his homeland or family again."

Vyse's head was still lowered, but he nodded his head, showing he did indeed fully understand the gravity of the situation. As the members of Squad 7 listened, some of the female members like Freesia, Aisha and Susie were all getting teary eyed as they listened to Varrot speak for Vyse.

"Despite knowing all these things, he has returned, of his own free will and begged to be returned to active service. So that he may fight along side his squad mates, his friends… his family!" said Varrot. She then turned and looked proudly at Vyse. "As a soldier of Gallia, he knows his duty and exactly what is to be expected of him. I hope you are all able to welcome him back, in your own way. I know I am certainly glad that we have such a fine, upstanding, young man serving in Squad 7."

Finally Vyse had gotten his confidence back and looked around, at all of soldiers of Squad 7, who were looking back at him. He dropped to one knee and then spoke, "Men and women of Squad 7... Forgive me, I was wrong to despair so greatly and lose all my confidence and belief in myself after… what happened just a few days ago," said Vyse. "I- I cost each of you, a dear friend and so much more with all those who died that day… I'll never be able to make up for it. But I swear to you all, here and now; that I will remain here, with you all, throughout this battle… and till the end of this war. I won't return home, until I've help Gallia win this war! Even if, it requires my life, I will sacrifice it gladly to be a good servant and soldier of this nation of Gallia. This, I swear, by my Arcadian blood."

Everyone from squad 7 remained quiet as they looked at Vyse. Some with proud eyes, some nodded their heads and smiled, other still remained quiet, like Lynn, Marina, Karl and a few others.

Finally Aisha walked to up Vyse and took him by the hand, and smiling, she said, "Welcome back, Mr. Inglebard!"

Other's then joined in welcoming Vyse back to the squad, by patting him on the back or by shaking his hand. Some of the girls such as Ramona and Freesia gave Vyse a warm hug to welcome him back. His return to the squad was far warmer than he could have ever expected, and in his mind, he already was home and amongst family once again.

"We'd love to welcome you back more properly, but it doesn't look like we have time to…" Rosie called out from the front of the trench and sandbags piled at the top. That was when everyone turned and looked to the Far East. The sight they saw set fear into their hearts. It was the main Imperial army, the entire invasion force, slowly approaching over the far sloping hills. This time, they seemed to stretch to the far horizons on each side, in a long line of soldiers, tanks and other vehicles that were steadying driving or marching forward.

"Get to your positions!" Welkin shouted from a top his tank, before disappearing back into the Edelweiss and closing the top hatch.

Everyone, regular and militia then began to get back into the trenches, behind the sandbags and prepare their rifles, machine guns, lances. They quickly checked the rest of their gear, to ensure that they had sufficient ammo, grenades and ragnaid to last throughout the battle or for as long as they could hold out. This battle would probably be, by far, the biggest, longest and deadliest fight in the entire war, with both sides using almost their entire armies on one battlefield.

* * *

As the Imperials got closer, the ground seemed to shake and tremble with the steady, rhythmic marching of the soldier's feet. Vyse even looked at a small pile of rocks nearby at the top of the trench. They were piled high, but were shaking and seemingly jumping up and down with the left, right, left, right thumping of thousands upon thousands of Imperial soldiers marching feet.

Now everyone was dead quiet, save for a few silent prayers being spoken by some of the soldiers nearby. Now, even Vyse began to pray.

"_Father… please watch over Aika and see that she makes it safely back to Arcadia and away from this war. Please grant me the strength to fight without fear, doubt and to do the best that I possibly can in this battle. I ask that you protect all of the soldiers of squad 7, who are like a second family to me. If it is your will that today be my last day on this earth, then I accept this fate. But let me go down fighting, like a true Arcadian hero… amen_."

Vyse once again opened his eyes and looked towards the vast approaching army. Just then, he felt a hand squeeze his own. He looked over and saw young Aisha looking up at Vyse with fear in her eyes. Her tiny hand was trembling in his hand.

"M-Mr. Inglebard…" she asked with a shaky voice, "Can we… win this battle? Do you think we even stand a chance? Can we win today…?"

Vyse looked off to the side for a moment, and then looked all around himself. It seemed that the other members of Squad 7 had heard Aisha's question to Vyse and were also waiting for an answer. Then, ever so slowly, Vyse's lips began to curl into first a smile, then a full, wide grin, even showing off his pearly white teeth. That was all the answer that Aisha or the other's had needed. Being able to See Vyse's trademark grin. The same one he always gave, right before each successful battle that they had ever fought, throughout the entire war.

Both sides were within firing range of each other now, but neither side had fired… just yet. Now, both massive armies stood across from each other, Gallia and Imperial. All was quiet, both sides glared at each other. It was a sight never seen before, the entire Imperial invasion army and the entire Gallia army, both regular and militia, here on this battlefield.

Again, Selvaria marched to the front of the Imperial army and pointed her long, blue, spiral lance at the Gallians. "Last chance Gallia, surrender before the might of the Imperial army, or be crushed by it."

The Gallian's remained silent, they had given their answer, "So be it!" Selvaria shouted, Selvaria held her lance high in the sky and waved it forward, "Now! Char-"

Suddenly, on the far left side of the Imperial line, a shrieking, blue, swirling beam of energy struck the Imperials and was dragged through the line from left to right. Moments later, massive explosions cut a large, wide swath of destruction, right through the Imperial line. Blowing up tanks, vaporizing soldiers, armour and all.

"What the!" Selvaria cried as she looked to her right, seeing the massive amount of devastation that was just unleashed upon her soldiers.

She, then everyone else, Gallian and Imperial looked up, into the sky. They spotted a single girl, engulfed in a blue flame, sailing majestically through the air and landing at the front of the Gallian army in a slow, but perfect front flip. This person, was dressed head to toe in a Gallian militia uniform, but was covered in the same, unmistakeable, blue flame that Selvaria was currently engulfed in as well, the blue flame of a Valkyria.

As the members of Squad 7's eyes slowly moved up, they saw the symbol of 'Scout' at the back up this girls uniform, but what they saw next, left no doubt as to who it was, standing before them. It was a red and white headscarf, one completely unique to the girl who wore it all the time.

"Alicia!" Vyse cried out, staring up at this girl wide eyed.

"No! She can't be a Valkyria!" Welkin cried out next in complete and utter surprise.

Though this new Valkyrian girl wore a Militia uniform of Gallia, all of the soldiers, Regular and Militia began to climb out of the trenches and back away, quickly, in fear. It seemed Alicia the Valkyria had heard all of the commotion as well and she slowly turned and looked back at everyone, moving away from her.

But this Alicia, was not the one that the 7's had known and come to respect and love. They could see it in the way this Alicia looked at them with large, red, unblinking eyes. She wasn't blinking at all; her arms were held plainly out to her side, her legs even seemed unsteady. It was almost as if this Alicia wasn't herself and was maybe even, sleep walking or acting on instinct, unconsciously.

* * *

Suddenly, her head quickly turned to the right, just as a pair of hands grabbed her by the shoulders, "Alicia!" Vyse's voice cried out, "You… you're a Valkyria! You've had this power all along, haven't you?"

Though 'Alicia' didn't answer and looked at Vyse with her unblinking red eyes, hands still at her sides, clutching a lance and shield in either hand.

"Why didn't you tell us! Why didn't you use your powers sooner! All those people… you could have saved all those people that day! Nadine… Alex… Juno… all the other's... You should have saved them that day!" It was clear that Vyse was angry at Alicia, for not using her powers sooner. How many could have been saved, if she had just used this power sooner?

Still, Valkyria Alicia didn't move an inch; she just stared into Vyse's angry eyes, with her own, emotionless, unblinking red eyes as Vyse shook her by the shoulders.

"Another Scion to the Valkyrur?" Selvaria asked as she stared at Alicia and the Arcadian boy. "This world has no need for two!" Just then, there was the sound of dozens of machine gun and rifle bolts being cocked back on either side of her, but Selvaria held up her lance, "Back away! I will deal with her, myself!"

And Selvaria charged across the plains, yelling in rage at the unwelcome sight of another Valkyria, this time, on the enemies' side. Once she was within range, she leapt majestically into the sky, bringing her lance back at the same time, hoping to get them both in one powerful, deadly swing of her lance.

Alicia's head turned quickly, up and to the right, spotting Selvaria coming right at them. She brought her shield arm back and hit Vyse right in the chest and stomach with her large, round shield. The blow sent him flying back, just in the nick of time as Selvaria's lance missed both him and Alicia and struck the ground in between them instead. However, Alicia didn't seem to hold anything back when she hit Vyse, because he was still rolling and sliding away from her and Selvaria, eventually falling into a deep blast crater and becoming unconscious from the serious hit by Alicia.

"Holy… did you see that!" Largo asked from the 'side lines' of the battlefield.

Welkin appeared from the Edelweiss hatch, he could no longer see Vyse, but saw Alicia and Selvaria engaged in a battle, unlike anything anyone had ever seen before. Two Valkyria attacking one another, with their lances and shields. They were leaping vast distances through the air, performing acrobatic flips, rolls and twirls. Sometimes firing off beam shots at one another as well.

"Boss! What's happened to Alicia?" Rosie asked as she hid behind the Edelweiss.

"I don't know, but she has the same flame as Selvaria… a Valkyria!"

"You don't mean that… Alicia is also a Valkyria?" Largo asked next.

"Seems like it… but it also seems like she's acting unconsciously, like sleepwalking," Welkin said. "We've already seen what she did to Vyse when he got too close… if we get too close, she might attack us as well… I'd hate to say it, but we're better off watching and keeping our distance for now."

The battle then came to an end, with Alicia proving too strong for Selvaria. She had never fought against another Valkyria before, so like all other opponents she had faced, she charged in and thought she could win the battle through pure, brute strength alone, no real strategy. This had cost her the battle and now she too lay unconscious on the battlefield.

Now, with Selvaria down, Alicia looked down at her, then slowly, her gaze turn to the large, armoured units, both soldier and tank of 'her' enemy, the enemy she was told to destroy, the Imperials.

* * *

The Imperial units had already seen the devastation that their former leader, Selvaria, had caused to the Gallian units in previous battles once she let loose in Valkyria form. So they decided to open fire, all of them, tanks, foot soldiers and all others, to try and stop the Gallian Valkyira, before she could react and attack them. Bullets, tank shells, grenades and bombs rained down on Alicia the Valkyria for more than a minute. Once all the firing had stopped, both sides waited to see the result of just what the whole Imperial army bombardment had accomplished.

Smoke and dust was in the air, the Imperial units had stopped firing and throwing projectiles as they waited to see what had happened. The Imperials slowly lowered their machine guns and rifles as they looked on, the tank commanders and officers exited their tank hatches and look on with bare eyes or binoculars at the Gallian Valkyria girl that they had just rained hell upon.

Soon, the smoke was slowly clearing, the dust settling and all was coming back into view. But all was not as the Imperials had hoped, for a single bright blue flame was now coming into view. Soon, a girl, crouching behind a bright, blue shield could be seen. It was the Gallian girl; she had survived the onslaught of shells and bullets without any harm to herself. Much like their own Imperial officer, Selvaria Bles had survived in past battles against armoured units and legions of soldiers in the past.

Now, they had done it, if this Gallian girl could feel anger in her state, she sure showed it. She charged up her lance and fired off a beam aimed at the far right of the Imperial line and dragged her steady, stream of blue energy across the Imperial lines. Cutting yet another large, wide swath of pure destruction and carnage through the Imperial line with great ease. Soldiers were vaporized, tanks obliterated and the ranks of men were beginning to scatter in fear.

Some still loyal to the Emperor and the mission, stood their ground and continued to fire, while other soldiers attempted to flee, sometimes getting caught in the crossfire or explosions from their own men.

Now, 'Alicia' charged into the mass of soldiers and tanks and went on a rampage. Hitting soldiers high into the air with her lance, sending them flying great distances like rag dolls. Striking jeeps and troop transport trucks with her lance and flipping them over or sending them cart wheeling through the mass of soldiers and crushing them underneath all the weight.

The sheer raw physical power that Alicia had at her command now as a Valkyria was frightening enough, but combined with her ability to now fire beams of blue energy was even more so.

* * *

All the while, the Gallians looked on in pure amazement; they had never seen the friendly, always smiling Alicia Melchiott like this. This Alicia was on a mission, to wipe out all invaders of her homeland. In the past, for each soldier Alicia killed, she always took the time to kneel next to them and pray and looked like she always regretted having to take a life during a battle.

Not this Alicia though, even injured soldiers, she showed no mercy. Like one that was trying to crawl away, but was stopped as Alicia stepped on his back, then drove her lance straight into his back, killing him, and then kicking his dead body away, just as easily and as high as a soccer ball. This Alicia, unlike her other self, was without mercy, pity or remorse. It was almost as if, it were a doppelganger of the Alicia that everyone from Squad 7 had come to know. Her blue flame, red eyes and white hair only helped to strengthen that image and belief.

Suddenly, Alicia stopped, and all around her, in a very wide 360 degree circle pattern, were dead Imperials soldiers, destroyed tanks and other military vehicles, many still burning. Large columns of black smoke rose high into the air from craters, burning debris and equipment. The rest of the Imperial army was a little less than a kilo meter away and holding position. Some small, scattered groups of Imperials were nearby, hold up inside blast craters or behind destroyed tanks, hiding.

Alicia slowly looked all around her, then up to the sky and just as quickly as it had started, it was over. Alicia dropped her lance and shield, her blue flame died down very quickly and her hair and eye color had returned to normal. She stood on shaky legs for only a few seconds, dropped to her knees, then fell face first into the dirt, unconscious.

"Alicia!" Welkin cried out, he then turned and looked back while yelling, "Medic! Medic!"

Soon, Fina the medic came running, "What happened?" she asked.

"Alicia is passed out! Can you get her back to base for me?"

"Yes, sir!" Fina replied and was just about to set out, when an explosion went off. Fina then stopped as she saw some Imperial tanks approaching in the distance; soldiers were also appearing from blast craters and from behind tanks and other cover from which they were hiding.

Fina had to take cover behind the Edelweiss, "Sorry sir! I don't think I can reach her, not with the Imperial soldiers between us and Alicia!"

"Oh no… we've got to reach her before she's captured or worse!" Welkin ordered and only Squad 7 made a move to try and rescue Alicia, the other squads and soldiers were afraid to even get near her, so they held back, same as the main Imperial army in the distance.

* * *

Meanwhile, Selvaria was slowly regaining consciousness. She hurt all over and her head was spinning as she slowly pushed herself up from the ground. A moment later, an Imperial engineer ran up to her and knelt down beside her, followed by 2 shock troopers.

"General Bles! Ma'am, are you alright?" the young Engineer asked.

Selvaria held a hand to her head and groaned, "What happened?" she asked.

"It seems that Gallia now has a Valkyria on their side, and she devastated our forces. We're scattered, it's pretty bad." The engineer explained.

Now it all came back to her and Selvaria clenched her teeth together angrily, "Where is she? I've got to find her!"

"Sorry Ma'am, but I think its best that we pull back. The elite Squad 7 is making their way over here and with so little soldiers between us and them, we should pull back. We can't afford to have you captured or killed."

Now, filled with rage, Selvaria pushed the engineer aside and climbed to her feet. Her body was covered with cuts, scrapes and large, dark bruises. She was extremely unsteady on her feet as she swayed back and forth, one of her shoulders burned and ached, like it was dislocated. But she breathed heavily through her teeth and searched the area, spotting the other Valkyria girl just a short distance away.

Selvaria looked to one of the nearby shock troopers, "You! Get on the radio and recall the forces back, and let it be known that no hand shall touch that Valkyrian girl. She's mine!" Selvaria snarled.

She reached down to her hip with a shaky right hand, it was difficult to move her left arm, her shoulder was dropped and burned, it had to have been dislocated in her fall and roll across the plains of Naggiar after her defeat. Still, she finally managed to draw her rapier, but even this felt like it weighed nearly a hundred pounds in her exhausted and beaten state. She couldn't even raise it; rather she let the tip drag along the ground, behind her slow limping form.

"Believe me, I will kill you!" Selvaria growled softly. "I will not lose my purpose as Lord Maximilian's ultimate weapon!"

At the same time, some ways a way, Vyse Inglebard was slowly sitting up from inside the crater that he had fallen into. He looked over the top of the crater and out into the plains of Naggiar, he himself felt just as exhausted and worn out as Selvaria. He saw a few scattered soldiers firing at the approaching Seven's and just behind them, he saw Selvaria, limping, dragging her sword in her right hand. Her teeth were bared, and she never took her eyes off of whatever it was that she was looking at.

Vyse followed her gaze and saw Alicia, unconscious and alone on the battlefield. Everything came flooding back into his mind and he knew that it must have been her that had caused so much destruction here, on this battlefield. He looked around for other friendly units, but saw that the closest was Squad 7 and what was left of the Imperials on the battlefield were holding them off. They would not get here in time to save Alicia; she was completely vulnerable and could not defend herself. Selvaria would have her revenge if he didn't do something.

Vyse looked around, his machine gun was no where in sight and his sidearm must have also fallen out of its pouch when he was knocked away by Alicia. Upon thinking that, he knew what he had to do.

"_She saved me_…" Vyse thought, "_Had she not knocked me away when she did then_…" Vyse then nodded, "_Alicia… now it's my turned to save you_!"

Fortunately, as soon as he checked, he found his radio still in place on his belt; he took it off and raised it to his lips. "This is Vyse Inglebard to Squad 7, can you hear me?"

The radio then crackled in response before Welkin's voice replied, "Vyse! Where are you, are you alright?"

"I've got Alicia in my sights, less than 100 yards from where I'm positioned, behind the Imperial line." Vyse said, he then sighed loudly, loud enough that Welkin could hear. "Welkin… I'm going for it, I'm going to go save Alicia, do what you can to cover me!"

Welkin replied, "I understand, we'll do the best we can. Please Vyse… you have to save Alicia, if it's the last thing you do, you have to save her!"

"I understand Boss… I swear I will protect her, for you!" Vyse said he then tossed the radio away and drew the only weapon he had, his bayonet blade and held it in a reverse grip; he then got ready to charge out from the crater. He would only have one chance at this, he was running out of time and Selvaria was almost upon Alicia. He took a deep breath and prayed for success, and that the other sevens would be ready to cover him, that he had the strength to make it to Alicia in time and the power to save her from Selvaria.

He took three deep breaths, and then charged out from the crater, running as fast as his legs could carry him. His legs felt like rubber after the severe hit Alicia had given him, but he kept his eyes locked on Selvaria, ignoring the surprised gasps of the nearby Imperial soldiers. They had finally seen a lone, Gallian soldier behind their defensive line, making a direct charge at their commander.

One Imp soldier desperately tried to turn and aim his rifle at Vyse, but was hit in the back by a sniper bullet, delivered by Oscar, one of the three snipers riding on the turret of the Edelweiss and covering Vyse, along with Marina and Emile. They were ignoring the rest of the battle that was going on and keeping a close eye out for any soldiers aiming at Vyse, protecting him as ordered.

Just then, the Imperial engineer standing near Selvaria happened to look over and see a single, Gallian soldier charging at them. "General! We can't stay here!" he warned, this time actually grabbing Selvaria by the shoulder. She responded right away with a slash across his arm with her rapier.

"No! Not until I kill this Valkyrian girl, everything rests upon my killing her, here and now!" Selvaria snarled, like a rabid dog and she continued on.

Now she was standing over Alicia, looking down at her with rage burning in her eyes. She kicked her over, so she was lying on her back now.

"As you wish General…" the engineer said, "I'll serve you till the end…" and he left Selvaria's side and moved to intercept the incoming Gallian soldier. He'd do whatever he could to stop him long enough to allow the General to pierce the Gallian valkyria's heart with her rapier, even if it cost him his life.

He drew his pistol and aimed it at the Gallian soldier, but he did not flinch, even as he aimed down the sights, centered directly over his torso. But before he could fire off a shot, he felt something impact him in the stomach, hard, followed by a hot, burning, piercing sensation. He looked down and saw that he had been shot in the stomach. Painfully, he dropped to one knee and held his stomach, keeling over in pain and that was when he felt a boot plant itself momentarily on his back, then kick off hard.

The Gallian boy had used him almost like a platform, to launch himself high into the air. Vyses legs were then tucked into his chest, in the shape of a ball. At the same time, Selvaria brought her rapier back for a killing thrust, straight through the heart on the downed red and white headscarf wearing girl. But she stopped when she happened to notice something in the corner of her eye. She quickly looked to her left and saw a young boy in the uniform of a Gallian militia soldier, high in the air, coming right at her.

* * *

Vyse then crashed down, right on top of Selvaria, knocking her off of Alicia and hard onto her back. The blow stunned her, but once everything came into focus, she saw Vyse, the Arcadian that she had encountered before. He was holding the sharp edge of his bayonet against her throat, his body on top of her own, pinning her to the ground. She could no longer feel her sword handle in her right hand. She managed to look over and saw it on the ground nearby. She made a grab for it, but Vyse planted his foot on top of her wrist, stopping her.

"Unbelievable…" Selvaria said softly. She didn't even have the strength anymore to push Vyse off of herself or to put up any kind of fight, not in her exhausted and beaten state.

"General Bles!" The young engineer cried from the ground, still clutching his stomach wound.

Vyse looked over and saw the small band of Imperials attempting to hold the seven's at bay, looking back at them. "Order them to drop their weapons!" Vyse commanded boldly. Selvaria didn't respond at first, so Vyse pressed the bayonet blade against her throat, cutting slightly into her flesh, she released a slight grunt of pain.

Though she didn't give the command, her soldiers, afraid for her safety and of losing their Valkyria, dropped their weapons and held their hands up. Now the Seven's moved in very quickly, some taking the small band of Imperials prisoner, other's moving in, next to Vyse and securing the young Engineer or crowding around Selvaria and Vyse on the ground together.

Selvaria closed her eyes, "_This is it… I could still use '**that**' technique to finish it_…" she thought to herself.

Moments later, the sound was filled with the other Sevens voices, telling Vyse to finish her off.

"Let's just kill her and be done with it!" Wendy suggested.

"Now's our chance! Kill her now!" Jane added angrily.

"Do it! Kill her! Finish her!" other's added in.

Selvaria then opened her eyes and looked at the Arcadian boy, still holding the blade against her throat. But unlike the other's around her, his eyes did not hold the same anger or thirst for revenge.

"…No…" Vyse finally said. Causing the other's to immediately quiet down or gasp in surprise. "You'd all settle for blood… But I want the fighting to stop…"

He then looked down at Selvaria, "Order your forces to pull back. Leave this battlefield and I shall spare your life."

"I cannot fail his grace… my lord Maximilian…" Selvaria said weakly.

Vyse could tell by the way she said _'My lord Maximilian' _that she must have felt something deeper for him, more than just following orders, like any other officer. He decided to use this to his advantage.

"If you are as close to Maximilian as I think you are, then go to him and tell him what you have discovered here today. That Gallia herself now possesses a Valkyria… maybe even more powerful than you." Vyse suggested, hoping to end this peacefully. "I'm sure that he'll want to hear this from you, his own Valkyria. I know he will, so go, tell him yourself… please."

Selvaria thought for a moment, and then nodded her head. Vyse slowly got off of her, Aisha and Edy Nelson helping him to steady himself on his shaky legs by holding onto an arm each.

Selvaria slowly sat up, holding her injured shoulder and looked to her engineer and shock troopers, "Contact our forces… tell them to pull back. We're leaving Naggiar and pulling back to the East…"

All of her soldiers held their heads low, but nodded or saluted and set about to deliver these new orders. One shock trooper got on the radio and told the main army about Selvaria's new orders and in the distance, plumes of dust began to raise high into the air as the tanks and trucks began to pull back. Quick, loud rhythmic thumping could be heard as all of the foot soldiers began to retreat alongside the tanks and vehicles.

* * *

Soon, a long, white stretcher was brought to Selvaria's side and she was helped by two shock troopers into the stretcher. Carefully, her stretcher was then lifted up off the ground. All of the seven's still held onto their weapons, tightly, as they let go of their prisoners, the brave soldiers who stayed with Selvaria, while the rest of the main army had retreated.

They too then began to follow the main army, heading Eastward, away from Naggiar. However, Vyse Inglebard was walking alongside the stretcher, strangely enough, he was holding onto one of Selvaria's hands as he walked next to her. The other sevens didn't follow and looked on.

"You showed a mercy that no one else would have…" Selvaria said softly.

Vyse shook his head, "No… I showed you the same mercy that you showed me, a few days earlier. You could have easily killed me during our last encounter, but you didn't... A life for a life."

"An honourable move… I will tell my Lord Maximilian about what we have encountered here today, but I do not think it will change his plans in the slightest," Selvaria said. "Furthermore… once I have recovered, I do believe that we will meet once again, on the field of battle."

"I see… then until that time, go in peace… Selvaria Bles," said Vyse, letting go of her hand, stopping in his tracks and giving her a respectful salute, holding it in place even as she got further and further away.

* * *

It was only then, that he noticed the loud, joyous cheering from behind him. Both armies, Regular and Militia were cheering loudly as they watched the Imperials leaving the plains of Naggiar in defeat.

He could also hear the happy chanting of "GALLIA! GALLIA! GALLIA!" over and over again by all of the soldiers, Regular and Militia. It was hard for him to believe, but, the Battle of Naggiar was over… they had won. Overcome with emotion, Vyse dropped to his knees, lowered his head and held his hands against the sides of his head and wept.

Soon he felt numerous hands rest upon his shoulders and back, he looked back with teary red eyes and saw nearly all of the seven's gathered around him in a semi-circle.

He saw Aisha, looking very worried, "What's wrong Mr. Inglebard?" Aisha asked. "We did it… we won… so why do you look so sad?"

"If you're worried about letting that Valkyrian woman go, then don't worry about it." Edy Nelson added. "Letting her go proved that we are capable of great mercy… even to her."

Susie Evans nodded, "It was a wonderful and kind thing to do Vyse…"

More tears fell from Vyse's eyes as he slowly shook his head, "Oh Aisha… Edy… Susie… thank you, thank you…" cried Vyse. "It's not all that… it's something much more…"

"Hmm?" everyone said at once.

"It's because… we did it…" sobbed Vyse. "We all made it… I didn't… screw up this time… You're all alive… all of the Sevens… are alive! I didn't get anyone killed this time…"

Now it was clear to everyone else. It wasn't the victory or the mercy that he had showed that caused him so much tears. It was because everyone had made it through the final battle of Naggiar together, no one had died during the battle this time. Their lives meant much more to Vyse than the actual victory that day.

Now that they knew, many of the female squad members were also getting choked up, teary eyed or were touched deeply by Vyse's sentiment. Aisha knelt down and wrapped her arms around Vyse's neck and hugged him, she too was now crying. "Oh Mr. Inglebard! You're such a nice boy!"

Edy Nelson was gritting her teeth together, fighting back tears and trying to hold a grin at the same time, "Boy… you're something else, Vyse."

"What's wrong with your eyes Miss Edy?" Homer asked curiously.

Edy held a hand against the side of her face, "Nothing… what's wrong with your face Homer?" Edy asked.

"Huh…" Homer asked, touching his cheeks and face quickly, "Nothing… Why-***Thwack**!*" he was then punched hard in the cheek by Edy Nelson, sending him to the ground. This caused many chuckles from the other seven's; even Vyse couldn't help but grin and chuckle a little bit.

However, their laughed was cut short by an angry sounding man yelling, "Where the hell is he!" Damon's voice screamed. Causing the other's to gasp and turn, seeing Damon making his way through the crowd.

Vyse slowly moved Aisha away from him and stood up, "Oh yeah… I forgot about him," said Vyse.

He was getting closer, but the other Sevens turned to Vyse, "Why? What happened?" Jane Turner asked.

Vyse rubbed the back of his head and chuckled, "Well, before we came here, I sort of… punched him out and left him in the dust and dirt back at the main encampment."

Everyone gasped at the same time, some then smiled or chuckled.

"Lucky!" Jane teased.

"Thatta boy!" Wendy added with a signature grin and snicker.

The other sevens then parted ways, to allow General Damon through, "You!" General Damon yelled while pointing his index finger at Vyse. "How dare you! To me! A General!"

Damon then looked back, "Soldiers! Arrest this boy! He's under arrest for assaulting a superior officer!"

There was a moment of pause, before Damon yelled, "Arrest him! Take him~!"

Just then, Captain Varrot positioned herself between Vyse and General Damon, "No! I will not let you take Sergeant Inglebard into custody, I will not allow it!"

"Do not get in my way Varrot!" General Damon snarled. "There's no way in hell I'm going to allow him to go unpunished for this treachery!"

Captain Varrot slowly shook her head, "No! I'm not moving!" she said defiantly. As soon as she had finished that sentence, all of the Seven's gathered on either side of her, forming a line, protecting Vyse as they all glared at General Damon.

"I want you all to understand this!" Damon roared. "If you do this, if you try and stop me, I'll have you all arrested and charged with insubordination, maybe even treason."

"You can charge us with whatever you'd like… I'm not going to let you harm Vyse Inglebard." Captain Varrot challenged.

Suddenly, Princess Cordelia herself stepped in front of both groups, "Please General, we've been through enough today, all of us. I think we should all forget about what happened earlier and celebrate this glorious victory that we've managed to accomplish, victory, despite the enormous amount of odds that we have faced today."

General Damon smiled, "Sorry Princess, but I do not think that there is even anything that you can do here," Damon laughed. "This young man here… is a foreigner! He's not even a Gallian, nor from Europa herself. This means that not even you, as Princess of Gallia can protect this foreign boy. He should have never been allowed to serve in our military, not even in the Militia!"

There were lots of hushed, worried whispers and murmur going on throughout the Sevens and the rest of the Army and Militia.

Princess Cordelia thought for a moment with her hand against her chin, "You're right… my powers do not reach far enough to protect this boy, from across the sea…"

General Damon nodded, "I knew it! Now! Men! Obey me for once and arrest him immediately!"

A group of regulars began to make their way towards Vyse, cocking back their rifles and machine guns. The sevens all got ready to defend Vyse. But before either side could act, Princess Cordelia held up her hand, everyone stopped as ordered. She then turned to Damon and gave him a glare, something unusual for the always calm and serene Princess Cordelia.

"What are you doing?" Damon asked, fists shaking in anger.

"Something I should have done a long time ago…" Princess Cordelia said. She turned to one of her officers dressed in white. "Your sword… give me your sword."

The officer obeyed immediately and drew his sword, then handed it to Princess Cordelia handle first. She took it, turned to Damon for a moment and glared at him. She then turned on her heels and faced Vyse Inglebard.

"Take a knee, Mr. Inglebard." she ordered with a smile.

Vyse nodded, dropped to one knee and held his head down. That was when he felt the tip of the sword that Cordelia held tap one of his shoulders, then move over his head in an arc and tap his other shoulder.

"Mr. Vyse Inglebard… for all of your selfless actions… and many sacrifices that you have had to make in order to be here with us today. For your undying and steadfast loyalty to our small nation of Gallia… For your respect for the rights and beliefs of all the people, religions and races of Gallia. I. Princess Cordelia, hereby make you an honorary citizen of Gallia. Your status, along with all of the rights and privilages, are now equal to that of any Gallian born here."

Now, everyone gasped. All of the Sevens, General Damon and the Militia and Regular soldiers.

"Rise, Mr. Inglebard," Cordelia commanded. Vyse did just that, climbing to his feet and looking at Princess Cordelia with grateful eyes. She smiled back and patted him on the shoulder, then turned to General Damon. "There you have it. Mr. Vyse Inglebard now has full citizen status in our nation of Gallia, equal to you or me.

General Damon was speechless for a few moments as he stared at Princess Cordelia, then at Vyse before stuttering, "B-b-but y-y-you can't do that!"

"I just did," Princess Cordelia responded. "I am sure that you know what this means. It means Mr. Inglebard, as a citizen of Gallia, is now under my protection, the highest one can get. Now, neither you nor any of your subordinates or anyone else shall raise one hand or finger against him. Do you understand?"

She then stepped closer and moved her mouth near Damons' ear and whispered, "Shall I also let these brave militia soldiers know what you had planned for them? How you planned to abandon them all? I'm sure they would like to hear it."

Now, General Damon backed down and slowly backed away, bowing low to Princess Cordelia as he did. Princess Cordelia then turned and returned to Vyse.

"This gift, was not given freely, it was already more than earned by you, Vyse Inglebard. I just made it official." Cordelia said. "You came here from a far off land, but choose, almost immediately to take up arms against our enemies and to defend this land. You have shown such admirable respect to all Gallians, Darcsen and other and treated both with equal respect, kindness and consideration.

You've already won, a brilliant reputation, here in the Gallian Militia. You have more than earned the rank which you so rightfully deserve. You've already gained a proud position among my people, for all of your noble deeds and actions in the past.

Now, as a citizen of Gallia, I know that I will hear of still nobler deeds, performed by both you and all of the members of Squad 7, here in our Second War against the Empire."

Cordelia then sheathed the long, slightly curved, shiny sword back into its white, decorative holder or scabbard, then held it out to Vyse Inglebard with two hands. "I heard that your sword was broken in an earlier battle against General Bles. Allow me to replace it," Cordelia said. "Take this with you, into your next battles… for your homeland of Gallia."

Vyse smiled brightly, took the sword from Princess Cordelia and looked down at it. His hand moved along the white and gold scabbard, towards the leather-wrapped handle. His fingers ran across the highly polished gold hand guard, the slowly wrapped around the handle. He looked at Princess Cordelia, she smiled and nodded.

Swiftly, Vyse drew the sword and admired the incredible detail of the decorated blade, the sharpness of the sword and its overall length.

Already, the Seven's were cheering, but once Vyse turned to them and raised his sword high into the air and yelled with them, they cheered far louder, harder and more joyously.

* * *

A few hours later, both armies, Regular and Militia were heading back to the main encampment. Other's, like Squad 7 were heading back to Randgriz, acting as Princess Cordelia's royal escort, back to the Capital and her castle.

But Vyse walked off to the side of the road and knelt down on one knee. In his hand, was the farewell letter that he had written both to his family and to Aika. With the battle over, there was no need to deliver it now, so he quickly ripped it up, and then opened both palms, letting the pieces drift away with the wind.

He sighed, "We did it Aika… we've won the battle, but the war still needs to be won. I do not know when it will end, so it looks like we'll have to wait a little longer, before we meet again.

I know now, with the help of the Seven's, I will make it through this war… we all will. So, my dear Aika… I will see you later on…" Vyse was about to get up, but a new thought came into his mind, which made him smile brightly. "No… I'll see you when I come home… to Arcadia and to you…"

* * *

_**Greetings readers, SORRY for the extremely long delay between chapters... so many months :*( I've just been busy and doing other things in my spare time. Doesn't help now that I have a PSP and can play Valkyria Chronicles 2 in my spare time, once I get my hands on it. So I decided, before I get the game, I'm going to update this story.**_

_**Truth be told, I was hoping to get this done by Christmas Eve or Christmas day, as a gift to ya'll for reading :) But kept getting side tracked, so here it is, a late gift I suppose :P Enjoy, Read and Review please :)**_

_**P.S. I know Vyse's popularity seems impossible now, almost like a Mary Sue or Mary Lue, but it'll go back to 'normal' for the next few chapters. Pluse, I have something cooked up for ya'll, a surprise. A member will return to the squad, healed and ready to join in the fight. And... it won't be Aika! Happy Holidays and Happy reading.**_

_**P.P.S: now that this is done and out of the way, I'm going to read "Lone Wolf" "Wolf Spider" and afew other's that I've always wanted to read. With this new chapter out of the way I can dedicate time to reading and not writing. Look for my review in the next few days guys :)**_


	56. Chapter 56

**Chapter 56- An unbelievable reunion**

It has been 2 weeks since the final battle of Naggiar, against the Empire. Since that time, all encounters with the Empires forces have been very small in scale. Then again, what battle could compare to the one the Gallians and Squad 7 had faced during their last battle against the Empire on the plains of Naggiar. A battle in which both sides used their entire military might against one another.

Even so, it was beginning to look like the war was nearing an end. Much of Gallia that had once been occupied was back in Gallia's hands and the battles were becoming less frequent and less intense. But while other squads were resting and taking it easy or replenishing their numbers with many new recruits and conscripts, Squad 7 was still training each day. They were always looking to improve themselves, to make sure they were in tip top shape and ready to fight at a moments notice.

Currently, many of the squad members were out on the training field, running through the obstacle course. While off to the side of the entire course was Vyse Inglebard. He had just recently been promoted to Staff Sergeant of Squad Seven. Since Naggiar, Alicia Melchiott was no where to be seen. Welkin must have known where she was, but he wasn't talking or telling anyone. Not even to his officers about where she was or what she was doing. Rosie and Largo chose to stay at their current rank and pass the promotion on. Vyse, who was already a sergeant, was next in line for promotion. He took it and was now Staff Sergeant.

Also, Vyse Inglebard was doing something that he had finally worked up the courage to do. He was watching all the others Sevens on the obstacle course with a very keen eye. He was looking for new members for his own Squad. Since Naggiar, he had put off this task for as long as he could, he knew it would be hard for him to choose new members. But enough time had passed; now it was time for him to retake command of his personal Squad and lead them into battle.

Only one member of his old squad was still alive and still loyal to him. That person was Marina Wulfstan, his sniper, his newly promoted corporal and second in command of his squad. All other positions were empty, which brought some sadness to Vyse as he looked down at his empty roster sheet, attached to a clipboard.

Vyse ran his hand down the roster sheet and began to get choked up as his hands ran over 'Scouts' slot and Aika and Wavy's faces appeared in his minds eye. His hand ran further down and over the empty 'Shock trooper' slots and Alex Raymond and Lynn's smiling faces appeared in his mind as well. For the empty 'Lancer' spaces, Yoko Martens and Hector Calvey's brave, bold faces appeared. His heart hurt the most when his hand ran over 'Engineer' and his beloved Nadine's face came up. Her beautiful smiling face. Her beautiful dark blue hair. Her matching set of eyes. All of these positions were going to have to be filled and soon. Still, he would never forget the names and faces that once filled this roster.

It proved to be a tough challenge for Vyse, to find so many new soldiers to fill the positions in his Squad. Two scouts, Two other shock troopers, Two lancers and one engineer were needed. Fortunately for him, one of his choices was nearby; kneeling on the ground, going through his engineers backpack and pouches.

Vyse swallowed hard, knelt down and asked, "Hey Karl… how are you doing?"

Still, even after two weeks, there was bitterness, maybe even anger, hatred towards Vyse by Karl, "What do you want?" he asked, sounding annoyed and angry.

"I was just wondering… I'm recruiting new members for my personal squad. I have a… spot open for an Engineer and you were my first choice to fill it. Interested?"

Karl thought for a moment then shook his head, "No thanks, it just doesn't feel right to take up Nadine's spot in your squad… she was my friend."

Vyse sighed loudly and said, "She was my friend too Karl… and the woman that I loved. I think… she would be happy to have you take her place."

Karl's anger was slowly disappearing, replaced by some sadness and sorrow, "No Vyse… I can't," said Karl. "For me the grief is still to near. We worked together so many times and now… she's gone. I just can't take her place for you. No matter how much she or you would want me to, I can't."

Vyse nodded, "Alright, I understand. I will keep looking, thanks for taking the time to talk to me about this."

Just as Vyse was about to leave, Karl asked, "Is Lynn still in your squad? Are you going to ask her to join up with you again?"

Vyse shook his head and honestly answered, "No… I won't ask her to serve with me again. I feel that she wouldn't want to either. She was also Nadine's close friend and served with her in my Squad."

Karl nodded, "She's still pretty distraught about the whole thing… I constantly see her crying when she thinks no one is watching. But I know all her favourite hiding places…"

"Well, she won't have to cry for much longer, right?" Vyse asked. "This war looks like it'll soon be over, then you two can get married, right?"

"I don't know," Karl answered. "We still have not talked about it since Naggiar…"

"I just know that all of the Sevens will come to your wedding and be very happy for you two!"

"No no… it's not like we can just pick up our plans again. Things have changed," said Karl, he then looked up at Vyse. "Because of all of our victories throughout the war, we thought… that we were invincible, like nothing could hurt us or tear us apart. With people like you in our squad, we believed that we would live to see the end of the war… all of us. But we were wrong to believe that… Naggiar opened our eyes.

Just one battle in Naggiar cost us the lives of so many of our squad mates. Even many of our best and closest friends died so easily… it changed Lynn and I. Made us realize how easily we could be killed in any battle. That is why we called off the wedding, because now we realize how mortal and vulnerable we really are. We felt ashamed that we had planned so far ahead with this wedding idea. Because we thought that we were invincible. Being with the Sevens and you… but, weren't not. We are now taking this one day at a time, so our hopes and dreams aren't crushed, that would be worse than death if one of us died before the other."

Vyse nodded, "I see… You may not believe me, but… I understand," said Vyse. "I too made a promise that I could not keep to Nadine. I promised that I would take her away from Gallia after the war, take her back home with Aika and I to our true homeland. Where she would be welcomed with open arms… No prosecution, no prejudice, no racism, no hatred towards her, just because she is Darcsen. I looked forward to being able to do that, just for her, with all my heart and soul. Not being able to keep that promise nearly broke me completely, to the point that I was almost unable to carry on living. So I know why you're doing this now, maybe it's for the best."

"Maybe you do know our pain…" said Karl, he then sighed and picked up his backpack and pouches. "I've got to go, good luck on your squad selection."

After Karl had left, Vyse pulled his dog tags our from under his shirt and held them in his open hand. He looked down at them with sad eyes. One pair were his own, the other Nadine's, which he was allowed to keep. Also, clipped on either side of them were Aika's green ragnite crystal earrings, a parting gift, just before they went their separate ways. Vyse closed his eyes and closed his fist around both the dog tags and earrings.

"Girls… I wish you were here… it's been so hard without either of you."

A few moments later, Vyse put his dog tags back under his shirt, just in time too. He only looked towards the training field for a moment, and then saw a large group of brand new recruits heading towards him. He could tell by the freshness of their uniforms, like they had just come from the factories where they were made and the youthfulness of their faces.

The large group then came to a halt, more than half of the young group were girls. They were giggling and pushing one girl to the front of the group and whispering, "Ask him! Ask him!"

The small girl, sporting a long brown ponytail and the rank of private on her militia uniform then made her way over to Vyse with her hands behind her back, blushing.

"W-we're told that you're an illustrious Military war hero!" the girl said, causing everyone behind her to nod their heads, some of the girls giggling as well.

Vyse couldn't help but smile, and then asked, "Who told you that? Captain Varrot? One of the Sevens?"

The girl went on without answering Vyse "And that you even single-handedly took down that Valkyrian woman at the last battle of Naggiar!" the girl continued. "Also, in your time of service, you've received numerous promotions and medals! You even received the Gallian Medal of Honour! An award that's been given out to less than a dozen soldiers in both wars!"

A blonde girl then stepped up, "Look! It's true! He was awarded a sword by princess Cordelia herself!" The blonde said while pointing down to Vyse's gleaming white and gold sword, attached to his hip.

The brown haired girl clapped her hands happily, "I must say, it certainly is an honour to meet a true war hero, up close and personal!"

Everyone clapped and smiled. And Vyse was slightly grateful to them for that, but he was a humble man.

"Thank you for the recognition, but these accomplishments do not belong to just me, one man." said Vyse, he then waved and everyone began to follow Vyse towards the training fields. "I could not have accomplished so much without the men and women of Squad Seven at my side. The heroism you've heard about does not begin or end with just me and my noble deeds. There are many other heroes who also deserve recognition…"

Vyse then pointed down the field, to a woman, shouting and giving orders to the Sevens running the obstacle courses, "That drill instructor that you see down there. That's Jane Turner," said Vyse. "Squad Seven's deadliest shock trooper, with the highest enemy kill count of any other squad member. Also, as Drill Instructor Rodriguez will testify, an excellent instructor in drill and combat instruction. She helped mold the members of Squad Seven into the best fighting force imaginable."

Vyse then pointed to a small girl taking a water break and wiping her head with a white towel, "The little one you see down that, that's Private Aisha Neumann. She's known… for being the youngest shock trooper to ever serve in the militia at just 12 years old!"

Both of these examples caused many 'Oh's' and 'Ahh's' from the new recruits.

Vyse looked over his shoulder, at Marina Wulfstan, cleaning her sniper rifle on a large wooden table, "The Corporal you see behind me, that's Marina Wulfstan, the best sniper in the entire militia!" said Vyse, "Also, her father was Victor 'The Black Wolf' Wulfstan. He was the best sniper in the entire militia during the last Europan war! Like Father, like Daughter I say, following in his footsteps."

And despite how far away Marina was, she lifted her head up and looked toward Vyse and his group of new recruits that he was leading around. Almost as if she had heard every word said about her and her father.

* * *

Vyse then continued to walk along the side lines of the training field, "We have soldiers here from; Bruhl, Vassel, Fouzen, the Barious region, small towns and big cities across Gallia. Mostly we're all veteran soldiers now, having served in every major battle throughout the war. Every man and woman here knows their duty, and I'm certain they would have accomplished so much even without me to inspire them."

The young recruits were hanging on his every word, eager to hear more.

But Vyse then turned to them and began to get serious, "Having served so long into this war, we all know things most new recruits have yet to experience…" said Vyse, running a hand through his dark brown hair. "We know all of the hardships of war and the hell that it brings. We know what it feels like to see men die and towns be destroyed… we know… what it feels like to lose a friend, a loved one in a battle. Most of all… we know that each time we go into battle… it could be our last, it's what we've all come to accept."

Now the new recruits were silent, some looking down at the ground in dread.

"But I know that if you stick to your training and fight with all your heart and soul for your home, just like we Sevens have, then I know that we will see a swift end to this war. Maybe, even some of you will come to be as famous as I or the other Seven's have become. And that is a great goal to work towards!"

And while the new recruits were clapping and cheering after hearing Vyse's speech, he saw something out of the corner of his eye. Montley Leonard had appeared, he was running to the training field, but it was not that which surprised him. It was that Elysse Moore, who was accompanying him, had actually beat him to the field and was quickly talking to the other seven's all gathered around her. Vyse was too far away to hear what she was saying to them.

Then, all at once, everyone began to run back to he barracks as fast as they could. Vyse had never seen them all run so fast in his life. He quickly pardoned himself from the group of new recruits and followed his squad mates, who were all very far ahead already.

* * *

Soon, Vyse was the last one to enter the barracks and what he saw shocked him beyond words. Standing there, back in full uniform was his best friend, Aika Thompson. She was standing alone in one corner of the barracks. While in the other corner, so many of the other Sevens were crowded around someone else, nearly all of them were crying. Susie Evans had her hands cupped over her mouth, bawling. Aisha had to be hugged and comforted by Freesia, as she was crying too.

Then, with shaky legs, Vyse made his way over to Aika. He kept opening and shutting his eyes, thinking it was all a dream, one that he would wake up from if he kept on doing what he was doing. Aika then looked over and spotted Vyse. She smiled brightly and rushed over to him, leaping into his arms and hugging him as hard as she could.

"Oh Vyse, Baby! It's so good to see you again!" Aika cried.

Vyse hugged her back, still unable to believe that she was indeed real. This was not a dream; his arms really were wrapped around Aika, his best friend.

Vyse then moved away from Aika and asked, "Aika! What in the world are you doing here? I thought you went home!"

Aika shook her head, "I never left, Vyse. I've always been in Gallia," Aika replied. "I'm sorry I am so late coming back, it was not my intention to stay away from the base for this long. But I found something that you're not going to believe… rather someone! She's the reason I was delayed for so long…"

Aika then took Vyse by the hand and lead him to the corner of the barracks that was crowded around the mysterious female; everyone was talking at once to her. But as they got closer, Vyse heard everyone saying her name over and over again, which was, "Claudia! Claudia!"

"Claudia?" Vyse gasped. "No way… It can't be…"

Then, as everyone moved away to let Vyse see, it was undeniably confirmed. It was indeed Claudia Mann, the girl that everyone had thought to be dead, killed at Fouzen. She was once again back in her old and torn militia uniform and was sitting and smiling at Vyse and Aika.

Vyse's heart was beating like a race horse, his eyes as wide as saucer, mouth agape. He wanted to say something, but his voice was gone, he couldn't even emit a squeak.

Claudia then stood up and walked towards Vyse, stopping just in front of him. "Hello, Vyse… It's so good to see you again. I missed you; I missed all of you so much!"

Nearly everyone was crying, many of the squad mates were holding each other, comforting the ones crying the hardest.

Finally, after a few moments, Vyse's voice came back to him, "H-how… you fell! You fell into the Fouzen River! Aika saw you fall! We all thought you were dead!"

Claudia scratched the back of her head nervously, "I did fall… but I didn't die…" she replied. "As luck would have it, it wasn't my time…"

"But you've been gone for months! Why were you gone for so long?" Vyse asked next. Everyone else was eager to hear her explanation as well.

"We'll answer that…" a quiet female voice said. Vyse's head turned to the other side of the barracks and sitting there were a middle aged male and female Darcsen couple. Also with them was Captain Varrot, standing in front of the bunk they were sitting on.

"The day that you liberated Fouzen, was the day that we found Claudia, our daughter." said the Darcsen woman with a Darcsen patterned headscarf and sandy coloured dress.

"Daughter?" Vyse asked.

"We've been taking care of her ever since we found her, treating her as if she were our own." said the Darcsen man with glasses and short dark-blue hair. He wore a Darcsen cloak, similar to the one Vyse owned.

"Our home is many miles down the Fouzen River, far from Fouzen itself. From what we can gather from Aika's story is this. We believe that once she fell into the river, her body must have drifted all the way down the river, all the way to our river side home," The Darcsen woman explained. "My husband was out fetching water at the river's edge and found a girl lying against the rocks on the shore. We didn't know what to make of it, it was unbelievable. All we can say is that it was a miracle!"

Her husband nodded, "She was badly shot up, her body bruised from hitting rocks on the ride down and her head was split open. From the looks of it, I automatically assumed that she was dead. But once I retrieved my wife from the house, we went down to get her body out of the water and found that she was still alive, barely. She must have been clinging to life by a thread, but, she was alive."

The wife continued, "We rushed her inside and tended to her wounds. But Claudia, she was delirious! She was thrashing around the whole time, her body quaking and shivering, she was crying out for her mother. But sadly, a letter we found on her when we stripped her down said that her parents were already dead, casualties at the start of the war. So that was when I made a decision, I took her by the hand and told her, 'Don't cry Claudia, you're safe now, mother's here…' and those words alone were able to calm her enough so she went to sleep and my husband was able to take care of the rest of her wounds."

The husband went on, "I was a medic in the last war, so I knew how to treat a wounded soldier. But, even after I pulled 4 bullets from her body, cleaned and stitched up all her wounds and treated her head, she was still in great danger of dying. She remained unconscious for days with a fever so high we feared that she wouldn't make it. But, my wife stayed by her side, praying for her day and night. She rarely ate or slept all the while Claudia was unconscious. And then finally… after 5 gruelling days, Claudia's fever broke and she opened her eyes for the first time in days and… She looked over at my wife and the first words that came out of her mouth were, '_Mother_?'

Now the wife had tears glistening in her eyes, "My husband and I have never been able to have children all the years we've been married. We prayed that one day, we'd finally be able to have a daughter of our own and then… Claudia showed up at our home… the rest, you already know."

Claudia blushed, "I don't really remember any of that, or much of what I did before I Fouzen. And… until Aika found me in Randgriz, I had forgotten all about my life in the militia."

Aisha turned to Aika, "You found her in Randgriz?"

Aika nodded, "Yeah… it really was an extreme stroke of luck that I did find her…"

* * *

_Aika's ride had finally arrived at Randgriz, the capital of Gallia. As directed, she was taken right to the palace. From here, she'd have to take the letter she was given, into the castle and present it to the Royal staff and servants. On the letter were orders, ordering one of the navy officers to take Aika to the Harbour, and then give her one of their ships so that she could leave Gallia._

_Once they were at the castle, the driver got out and went around the car, opening the door for Aika. She then stepped out and looked up at the stairs leading up to the castle and she slowly began to ascend the steps. Half-way up the steps, it hit her; this was the point of no return. If she continued, she would soon be on a ship and headed away from Gallia by sea._

_She looked down at Vyse's eye patch, clutched tightly in her hand. She began to breathe faster, heavier. Her heart beating a million miles an hour. This was it. It was now or never for returning back home to Arcadia, safe and alive. However, Aika then realized that it wasn't enough to just be safe and alive, even if she lived to be an old woman back home, it'd be a half life, an empty life. This was something Vyse realized long before Aika ever did; her desperation to escape Naggiar blinded her from this thought._

_Leaving now… is impossible… Aika thought. She then looked towards the ocean, her route home, and then looked in the opposite direction, east, towards Naggiar. I know now… that there is no leaving… we've come too far now…_

_Aika immediately turned on her heels and ran back down the steps, "Take me back to Naggiar!" Aika pleaded the driver. "I have to get back! I made a mistake!"_

_The driver shook his head, "My orders were simply to return you to Castle Randgriz. I am the princesses' royal chauffer and only she may command me."_

_Aika grunted angrily, then thought that Fort Amatirain wasn't very far outside of Randgriz city, for someone like her, it was easily within running distance. Perhaps once she got back, she could find some way to get a hold of a transport or find some other way to get back to Naggiar. Now, with that in mind, Aika took off like a mad woman, running faster than she had ever run before. Running down the Castle road, down the main street and weaving around the crowds of people. She weaved to the left and nearly took out a woman carrying items out of a store in a bag._

_"Hey!" The woman yelled._

_Aika looked back as she continued to run and shouted, "Sorry!"_

_Then, she hit something, really hard. The scream of surprise from the other person she hit let her know that it was a girl, judging from the voice. The fall stunned Aika, her breath was knocked out of her, her body hurt and she was groaning as she pushed herself off of the ground._

_"Oh man… I am so sorry!" Aika apologized. She then reached over to help the girl up and saw that she was wearing a long cloak with the hood up. It was a Darcsen cloak; similar to the one she remembered seeing Vyse wear, a gift from Nadine. Aika then took the moaning girl by the hand and helped her to her feet. Her hood on her cloak was long and hung low over her face, though some long black hair stuck out from the sides of her hood. It was not the color of true Darcsen hair; Aika had enough Darcsen friends to know this for a fact._

_"Claudia!" An older woman's voice cried out as she came running out of the nearby store, a man following right behind her. "Sweetie, are you alright!"_

_The woman took hold of the girl's hands and she nodded in response then said, "Yes Mother, I'm fine. We just had a little accident."_

_The Darcsen man and woman turned to the girl who had just run into their daughter. But her mouth was wide open in shock, her eyes just as wide as well. She then leaned down and tried to look under the hood, but the mother pulled her away and held onto her._

_"Claudia? …Claudia Mann?" Aika asked._

_"Huh? Who are you?" the hooded girl replied._

_Though that one response, combined with what she said earlier to her 'mother' and 'father' was enough to make Aika recognize her voice. But she still could not see her face, not with her hood up. Then, before she could ask her to take off her hood, the Darcsen woman grabbed Aika by the arm and led her away, while the Darcsen man led Claudia away in the opposite direction._

_Once they were far enough, the Darcsen woman let go and asked, "Who are you? How do you know Claudia's full name?"_

_"I'm Aika Thompson. I was once a Corporal in the militia. I served with Squad Seven, alongside Claudia Mann, who was also a member of Squad Seven, up until we lost her a Fouzen… Or so we thought." Aika said. "I don't have to see her face to know, that that is Claudia Mann, am I right? I served with her long enough to recognize the sound of her voice, the color and length of her hair and other things about her that only a friend would know."_

_The woman lowered her head and sighed and without saying anything she took Aika by the arm once again and led her back to her husband and her 'daughter'. Once they reached them, the lady took hold of her 'daughters' hood and pulled it down, finally showing Aika her face and without a doubt, Aika knew that it was Claudia Mann._

_"Claudia! What- Why- How-" Aika stammered. She was not sure which question to ask first or even how to ask it._

_Then Claudia looked nervously at her mother first, then to Aika and asked, "…Who are you? Mother, who is this person?"_

_"You don't recognize me? I'm Aika Thompson! I'm your friend! Your squad mate!"_

_Claudia held a hand to her head; Aika could see that she was deep in thought, trying to remember. It all seemed very confusing and troubling to her._

_Claudia closed her eyes and strained hard, thinking hard, "Mmm…. Can't… remember…"_

_The Darcsen woman held her and comforted her, like any mother would to a troubled daughter. This time, the Darcsen man led Aika away._

_"Please… don't make this hard on her. She can't remember anything, nothing for months before her accident."_

_"Accident?" Aika asked, "We thought she had died at Fouzen!"_

_"No… she didn't die, it's a miracle that she's still alive. Even more amazing that she was brought to us… but let me start from the beginning…" The man then narrated the same story that he and his wife would tell Vyse and the other Sevens much later on._

* * *

_"I see… so she did survive the fall… we all assumed that she had died that day." Aika confessed._

_"No, she didn't. We've been taking care of her since Fouzen was liberated. We've only been in Randgriz for a few days. But with the fighting winding down, it may soon be safe to return back to our home outside of Fouzen city."_

_The fighting! Aika thought, I have to get back to Naggiar somehow! They need me out there!_

_Aika didn't want to leave Claudia Mann, it was a miracle that she was still alive and that by some major stroke of luck that she had run into her, literally. Thankfully however, it seemed that she didn't have to leave her. A few doors down from where they were standing, a man came running out into the streets, hands above his head._

_"It's over! The battle of Naggiar is over! We've won!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, "The Imperial army is in full retreat, heading back East! We've won! WE'VE WON!"_

_As the citizens of Randgriz cheered for joy, Aika fell to her knees. A wave of relief swept over her. But, an even more powerful sense of sadness followed and overpowered her happiness and relief._

_…They won… and I wasn't there to help them… Aika thought sadly, How can I go back now… how can I go back and face them… all of the Sevens?_

_Suddenly, she looked up and saw Claudia kneel down right in front of her. Then, without warning, she reached forward, her hands cupping over Aika's cheeks._

_"Claudia?" Aika asked as Claudia ran her hands over Aika's face, then moved up and ran along her stiff braided hair, shaped like a boomerang. Then, over her red and black goggles, that were perched a top her head. She was tracing the circular lenses with her finger. All the while, Claudia looked very, very deep in thought. What she was doing, seemed to show that there were things about Aika's face and hair that seemed familiar to her._

_"…Aika… Aika Thompson… Vyse… Neither from Gallia…" Claudia said slow and soft, more to herself than to Aika. But, it showed that somewhere, somewhere deep in her mind, was her old memory._

_Aika's eyes shot wide open, "You… you remember!"_

_Claudia pulled her hands back from Aika's face and held them against the sides of her head. "My head… it hurts… it's all so confusing!"_

_Claudia's 'mother' ran up to her 'daughter' and hugged her from behind, "Oh Claudia… I was afraid this might happen. That'd you'd start to remember your old life… your life as a soldier. I wanted to keep you away from that, keep you with me and my husband as our own… but I can't do that… that wouldn't be right. It wouldn't be fair to you…"_

_She then turned to Aika and said, "Come… come with us to our temporary home out in the country where it's safe. We… We'll let you work with Claudia to help her regain her memory. If she chooses to… we'll let her go back to her old life. We'll let our daughter go…"_

_Aika nodded, "Alright, I'll come with you."_

* * *

"And that's what I've been doing all this time," Aika announced. "I've been working with Claudia to help her remember who she was, where she came from and the people she left behind. I'm sorry I didn't return sooner, but I wanted to make absolutely sure that Claudia had first recovered her entire memory, recovered from the shock of it all and was ready to return to the world of the living… so to speak."

Aika then turned to Claudia, tears welling up in her eyes and she fell to her knees and then fell forward on her hands and bowed her head low. "I have a confession to make… I used you, Claudia… I used you as an excuse to return to the Squad… I could never have come back empty handed. Not after what I did…" She then turned to the whole squad and spoke again, still on her hands and knees, head held low, "I abandoned you all… I wasn't there for any of you. Not even my best friend… I abandoned my best friend in the whole world, my Vyse Inglebard. I can never, ever take that back."

Many of the Seven's looked moved by Aika's confession. There were, however, some who weren't moved. Lynn looked particularly angry.

"What you did was unforgivable!" Lynn screamed, "We've all lost people important to us in this war, but none of us has ever left! None of us ever ran or left the squad! You're either here or you're not! You don't just cut and run when things get ugly! No, you pick your side and you stick! No matter what happens!"

Lynn and Lynn alone stormed out of the barracks, fuming with anger.

Aika continued, "I know that there probably will be some of you who can never forgive me for what I did. But I ask for one more chance… I swear; that if you'll take me back… I'll never leave again! I was once in the Militia and the Militia is where I want to return to. I want to be a soldier again! I want to serve with you all again! Please… I beg of you to take me back…"

Claudia then walked up to Aika and helped raise her to her feet, "I forgive you… I could never stay mad at you. You, Aika Thompson, you gave me my life back." Claudia then turned to the other Seven's. "I ask you all to forgive Aika for what she did. If she didn't leave, I'd still have been lost to you all. I'm back now, back with all my friends because of her. I'm truly thankful to her for that."

Everyone nodded; many smiled or had tears in their eyes. Then, all at once, everyone moved forward and comforted Aika, hugging her, patting her on the shoulder and welcoming her back. They forgave her and let her come back. Captain Varrot even sent an order to have her re-enlisted back into the Militia. She even gave her back her rank of Corporal, letting her be an officer once more.

* * *

Aika saved Vyse for last, her reunion with him was going to be different, special, private. Once all the Seven's who chose to welcome her back did so, she took Vyse by the hand and ran with him in tow outside and to a secluded part of the base. She then hugged him harder than she had ever hugged him in her entire life and he hugged her back and held her tight. Their hug continued as Aika spoke with her head against Vyse's chest. "I'm so happy they all took me back… will you?"

"Is that even a question?" Vyse asked as tears were welling up in his eyes, "You're my best friend in the whole world…"

Tears were running down Aika's cheeks, "I'm so sorry that I wasn't there for you… you've probably been mourning Nadine's loss all alone… I'm a terrible friend for doing that to you."

"I had the Seven's to help me," said Vyse. He then released Aika and pulled his dog tags out from under his shirt and showed it to Aika, she smiled the brightest smile he had ever seen. Her green ragnite crystal earrings were still attached to his dog tag chain. "You were always there for me Aika, right here, next to my heart. Having these, I never felt alone, never."

Aika nodded, "I completely understand what you mean, Vyse." Aika then reached down and dug something out of her pocket and showed it to Vyse. Now he smiled a smile, just as bright as Aika's. It was his black eye patch. "You were with me the whole time as well, Vyse. I knew you were safe, I knew you didn't die at Naggiar. I could feel it… right here in my heart."

Vyse smiled and took the earrings off of his dog tags. At the same time, Aika was removing two simple stud earrings that were in place of where her old earrings were. The one's given to her by Nadine as a gift. Then, with her hands down at her sides, she tilted her head to the left. Vyse then re-attached Aika's green crystal earring to its rightful place, on her ear. Once it was secured, she tilted her head to the other side and Vyse did the same with the other earrings, putting it back where it was meant to be. Now both earrings were back in place and she felt complete once again.

Now, Vyse held his hands to his sides and closed his eyes. Aika then reached up and slowly put Vyse's eye patch over his head and rested it against his eye. Vyse took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, then opened his eyes and now had his eye patch back in place and felt whole once more, having Aika back and his eye patch as well.

Then, with her hands still on Vyse's cheeks, she slowly pulled Vyse towards her face, her lips. Vyse brought his hands up, placing them over Aika's back and pulled her the rest of the way towards him and their lips pressed against one another's. Their first kiss since they had been separated. It was long. It was passionate. It seemed to last forever.

The two then pulled apart and looked deep into each other's eyes and smiled. Aika then rested her head against Vyse's chest and hugged him. She listened to his heartbeat and smiled.

"Never again… will we leave each other… promise?" Aika said.

Vyse rested his cheek onto of Aika's head and nodded, "I promise, Aika. We stick together now and always. Here, is where we stay, together. Fighting for freedom. Fighting for peace. Fighting for Gallia, together."

* * *

_**Greetings readers, sorry for my absence, my long, long absence from the site. Recently discovered in November that my dad has cancer and... I've been moping around since November :*(. But, I'm better now, he's still sick, but I'm stronger now and ready to continue this and all my other stories. Writing helps me, kind of theraputic and soothing in nature.**_

_**Be honest, after reading this chapter... how many of you cried :P I wrote it and I got teary eyed during my read through, correcting my mistakes and such. Hope you enjoyed it and that it makes up for my being gone for so long. As always, Read and Review :) What did ya think? Yay! or NAY! Cheesy? Mushy? :P lol, all reviews are welome!**_


	57. Chapter 57

**Chapter 57- Words that burn within...**

Vyse was sitting with Aika on top of the Edelweiss with their legs hanging over the treads armour. Aika had her head resting against Vyse's shoulder; in her hand was Vyse's brand new Gallian ID card. Which confirmed his status as a full citizen of Gallia. Princess Cordelias' very own signature was in the corner, making it official.

"Wow… I did miss a lot during my absence…" Aika said downheartedly. "But you deserve this, Vyse. I'm happy for you."

Vyse nodded and took the card back and stuffed it into his pocket, then turned to Aika and said, "You know, I think we can get you one as well. All I have to do is ask Princess-"

Aika raised her hand and stopped him, "No no… It's something that I have to earn… one day. I don't want any special treatment; let me get it my own way, like you had to."

Vyse smiled, ruffled the top of Aika's head with his hand and while laughing said: "Sure thing, Aika Baby!"

Just then, the sound of many approaching footsteps could be heard as well as much chatter from male and female voices. Vyse smiled and excitedly said: "Ah, they're here!" and jumped down from the tank and onto the concrete floor.

"Who, Babe?" Aika asked as she followed him and jumped to the ground, landing next to him.

"The others… for our squad!"

Freesia York, Aisha Neumann, Edy Nelson, Claudia Mann, Marina Wulfstan, Jann Walker, Elysse Moore and finally, Fina the Medic appeared. They all gathered around the Edelweiss.

"I just got word that you wanted to see me, handsome." Freesia said, "I was hoping that it was a private invite… guess not, heh heh."

"I got the same message, sir." Claudia Mann said.

"Same here," Edy said.

The other's nodded their heads as well. Vyse nodded back, held his hands together behind his back and walked up and down the line of the formed up Sevens. He took a deep breath and exhaled deeply, then said, "I've called you here today... because you are the soldiers that I've chosen for my personal squad."

A huge grin spread over Freesias lips, Aisha Neumann clapped happily, and Claudia Mann nodded and smiled. Marina folded her arms across her chest and nodded, but Edy Nelson was shaking her head.

"But… what about Homer, you know how well we get along… why didn't you-"

"I know, I thought about that. But, I figured missions would go a lot smoother if he wasn't around for you to pommel whenever you liked. And you'll still be with him when we're not on missions and on the base; I'm just asking you to serve with me when the time comes."

"But-"

"There's a second part to this, so be patient, Edy." said Vyse, "Second; this is not an official order. You are all simply my first choice as to who I want on my squad. So I'm asking now, will any of you join me? You have the right to say 'No' if you choose not to join. But, if you decide to serve with me, you'll have to take my orders as I give them, is that understood?"

"Yes, sir!" Everyone said at once.

Vyse then took a few steps back, reaching out his arm and putting it onto Aika's arm to pull her back with him. He then looked at his soldiers, swiftly drew his sword, then pointed the tip down at the ground and ran it over the concrete softly, making a line. Vyse and Aika on one side, his potential new squad mates on the other.

"So who's with me?" Vyse asked loudly.

Before anyone could respond, Marina Wulfstan pushed her way past everyone one else and stepped over the line, joining Vyse and Aika on the other side. Fina didn't hesitate either, she ran over the line and joyfully hugged Vyse once she was over. Freesia happily skipped over the line, Aisha jumped over it, clapping giddily. Jann and Claudia crossed over as well. Elysse Moore raised a hand to her mouth, yawning as she lazily walked over and all that was left was Edy Nelson. She was rubbing her hand against her chin, thinking deeply, weighing the options.

Then finally, "Meh, what the hell!" and she crossed over the line and joined the rest of the squad.

Vyse smiled and looked at his new squad mates and said: "Thank you! I'm glad to have you as my new squad mates."

"No problem, handsome! I really look forward to working with ya!" Freesia said with a salute and a wink.

"I'm so happy you picked me, Mr. Inglebard!" Aisha cheered.

Everyone else nodded and added their 'thank you' into the mix.

* * *

Later that afternoon, just before supper, Vyse was once again in the tank hanger. Though this time, he was standing in the clear spot between the two rows of tanks, his jacket was removed and he was in his black turtle neck style undershirt. He was swinging his sword through the air, cutting it with 'swishes' and 'swoosh's' as he moved around the hanger. He was building up a sweat as his forehead glistened in the hangers lights.

Aika was watching him with her elbows on her knees, chin resting in her hand as she looked dreamily at Vyse and sighed happily. Elysse Moore was also sitting on the tank, watching her squad leader with great interest. She herself was into sword fighting, rather, fencing. And she was an expert at it. As she yawned, a question came to mind, so she asked Aika: "You two have been here since the start of the war. But that was many, many months ago, correct?"

Aika looked back and answered: "Yeah, that's right. We've been here from the beginning and will stay here till the end of the war, no matter how long it takes!"

Elysse nodded, "Do you not have family back home?" she asked, "How is it that you've been here so long and have never written home? Don't they miss you?"

Aika laughed and said: "Vyse and I… We're Arcadians!"

Elysse tilted her head lazily, "And that means?"

Aika thought about how to answer, without talking too much about her and Vyse's homeland. Feeling it safe to reveal this much she answered: "Vyse and I, we're natural born explorers and adventurers, all Arcadians are. From the moment we can walk, we're out exploring and seeing the world." Aika then chuckled, "One time, when Vyse and I were younger… we told Vyse's parents that we were going out for a short walk… that walk lasted 3 months and hundreds of miles. When we finally returned home, Vyse's father looked at us, smiled and told us that we were true born Arcadians!"

"Really… wow, that's quite something." Elysse complimented with a smile.

Vyse then came back to the tank, picked up a water bottle that was resting on the tread and drank from it. Elysse then asked: "Why are you training with a sword today?"

Vyse sprayed some water over his sweat filled head, "Just going through the motions, replaying my last encounter with Selvaria… thinking of what I could have done differently. But it's difficult; she fights with a style that I've never encountered before…"

Elysse nodded, "I remember that fight… it was epic beyond words… I still can't believe I got to see a sword fight on the plains of Naggiar!"

Vyse nodded, "One I lost… This Selvaria… she's the best swordsman I've ever encountered… and that's saying a lot after how far Aika and I have travelled."

"You know… I happen to specialize in fencing, a form of rapier style sword fighting. I believe that that is the style Selvaria uses. Now that we're serving together, I could teach you if you'd like…"

Vyse smiled brightly, "I knew I picked you for a very good reason!"

* * *

Later into the evening, Vyse and Elysse were out on the training grounds of the base. Vyse now had a wooden sword, shaped exactly like his real sword; Elysse had a training rapier, with a safety cap over the point. However, they had been fighting for quite some time. Vyse turned out to be a much better swordsman than Elysse was… so far.

After Vyse softly struck her one more time, he said: "You know what… I think that's enough for today.

"Not yet…" Elysse said slowly. She then closed her eyes, breathed in deeply, exhaled slowly and then opened her eyes once more and grinned. She then balled up both fists and said eagerly: "Ok, ready now!"

"What?" said Vyse, the next thing he knew, he had the point of Elysse's training rapier thrust into his chest, the safety point landing directly over his heart. She moved so fast that Vyse barely had time to blink, and then she was upon him.

"What the?" said Vyse.

Elysse smiled, "It may take me a while to build up steam… but once I'm ready… there's no stopping me!"

She then moved back into ready position, feet apart, barely touching the ground as she shuffled back and forth eagerly, her back hand up, waist high to steady herself. Vyse grinned, maybe now he could stop holding back and see what she really had.

"On guard!" Elysse shouted.

"Yee-haw!" Vyse yelled back and they went at it, both of them using the full extend of their expert swordsmanship. Vyse got some hits in, but they were not easy to score. Elysse's full potential allowed her to keep up to Vyse and score just as many hits. From time to time, Elysse would give Vyse pointers as how to counter, attack and what to expect from a fighter who wielded a rapier, like Selvaria.

* * *

Meanwhile at Ghirlandaio, Selvaria Bles was on the upper most level of the citadel. She too was swinging her sword through the air, attacking an imaginary target. But with each swing, thrust and slice through the air, she released a grunt, groan or growl of anger. Also, her eyes were glowing bright red as she swung, spun and thrust her sword into multiple invisible targets.

All around her were her soldiers and officers. They were watching nervously, but no one dared to get near her, she seemed to be oblivious to all around her and could slice or stab them if they got too close. They had no idea what had made her so angry, as no one dared to ask.

Just then, General Jaeger appeared and started towards Selvaria, who was still swinging her sword around while yelling angrily. Deciding to take no chances, Jaeger began to draw his sword, while at the same time calling out to her: "Hey! Hey! Selvaria! That's quite dangerous you know!"

It seemed that his choice was a real life saver as Selvaria spun around and swung her sword down upon Jaeger while screaming, her eyes burning bright red. Her sword was then stopped as it clashed with Jaegers blade. Jaegar's arm was shaking as their weapons grinded together, but he was still able to smile.

Slowly, Selvaria's glowing eyes began to fade and soon returned to normal. She was panting from all the exertion of her powerful and fast swings and thrusts. Then, she spoke: "General Jaeger… my apologies… I didn't see... I'm sorry…" and she put her sword back into its sheath and lowered her head apologetically to Jaeger.

Jaeger simply laughed it off, "Hahaha! Don't worry about it! But man, was that ever close!"

He then slide his large heavy sword back into his sheath and approached Selvaria, who still had her head lowered, looking kind of sad.

"I don't mean to pry… but is there something that you'd like to discuss with a fellow General?" Jaeger asked.

"The reason that we're here in Ghirlandaio… The reason we lost at Naggiar… The reason we've not conquered Gallia yet… is because of me…" Selvaria said softly, "Twice... I've promised Lord Maximilian a victory that I could not deliver…"

"There were unseen circumstances that we could never have predicted…" Jaeger offered.

"The Gallian Valkyria and…" said Selvaria, slowly raising her head, "The Arcadian…"

"Arcadian?" Jaeger asked with a raised eyebrow.

"A warrior from another country, like you or I," said Selvaria, "He's different, fearless, and far stronger than any Gallian I've ever faced on the battlefield. He actually challenged me to a duel by swords!"

Jaeger eye's opened wide in surprise, "He dared to challenge you! A Valkyria! To one on one combat?"

"Speaking of which, Jaeger, would you care to help me practice? No Imperial officer or soldier will accept my request. Then again… what do they know of what it truly means to wield a blade into combat. To them, it's all about rifles, bullets and explosives. No one knows the honour that comes with fighting an opponent, one on one, with nothing but your blade and your skill alone."

Jaeger smiled and drew his large sword and took a fighting stance, "I'd be honoured, let's start off slow to allow me to shake the cobwebs off of this blade!"

Moments later, Jaeger and Selvaria were swinging, parrying and blocking slowly, not going all out or full force just yet. They did however; continue their conversation while they had their slow motion sword fight.

"I found it amusing at first, so I played along, not expecting him to put up much of a fight." said Selvaria, "However… He fought with such ferocity that I actually had to focus for once."

"Interesting, he sounds tough!" said Jaeger, blocking and pushing Selvaria's blade away and walking slowly in a circle, ready for the next attack.

"I don't believe I've ever heard of a country called Arcadia, have you?" Jaeger asked.

Selvaria shook her head and said, "No… and I have been searching throughout the library, hoping to study my enemy. But I cannot find one single resource or book about a place called 'Arcadia' or its warriors."

"Are you sure he's a warrior? A true warrior?" Jaeger asked. He then had his sword blocked and pushed back as he and Selvaria circled each other for a few moments, then Selvaria attacked once more.

"Yes, I'm sure of it… He's the only opponent that I have ever faced that was able to draw blood from me during a battle." said Selvaria, touching her cheek with her free hand while performing a quick series of strikes against Jaegers sword as he blocked. "If my body did not heal as quickly as it does, then there would be a scar… right here…"

Once again, Jaeger blocked and pushed Selvaria's sword away, knocking her a few steps back, he grinned and said, "That's because you were weak, if a mere boy were able to do that to you! Ha ha!"

Selvaria's mouth dropped open in an instance, then she glared at Jaeger. Her glove emitting a squeaking noise as it gripped her sword handle even tighter. Now, with their warm up finished, Selvaria charged across the upper level of the Ghirlandaio Citadel and attacked Jaeger without holding back.

As Jaeger backed up, blocking all of Selvaria's quick, angry attacks, he smiled and taunted Selvaria even more by saying, "Is that the best you can do? I'd have expected so much more from a descendent of the Valkyrian race! It's no wonder this Arcadian boy was able to best you in combat!"

Still, Jaeger was impressed; Selvaria was not going into Valkyria mode. No blue flame was engulfing her body; she was fighting him as a human woman, a very angry human woman.

Now, Selvaria screamed angrily as she continued her unrelenting attacks on Jaeger. This time, he had to hold his sword with one hand and use his armoured gauntlet on his other arm to block Selvaria's quick strikes.

Then, with a spin and a full force strike, Selvaria was able to knock Jaegers sword out of his hand and it clanged to the ground loudly. Then, she kicked him hard in the chest and knocked him onto his back. Finally, she loomed over him, the tip of her blade resting against his throat as he and she breathed deep and heavily, sweating and winded from their intense sword fight.

Jaeger smiled once more, "Very good! Fight like that the next time you meet him and he'll stand no chance!"

Before Selvaria could answer, there was the sound of much cheering, whistling and clapping from all around. Selvaria looked around and it was only now that she had noticed many of her soldiers had gathered around and watched their commander shine once more. Since Naggiar, she had not done so, because she was so disheartened at her defeat and their withdrawal from the battlefield.

With a smile, Selvaria realized what Jaeger had done for her by taunting her. In doing so he brought back her fiery spirit and the commander to which all the soldiers looked up to.

Selvaria put her sword back in its sheath, then reached down and helped Jaeger to his feet. She then walked over and retrieved his sword from off the ground and gave it back to him. He bowed, smiled and quickly slide the sword back into its sheath as well.

"Phew! I can't remember the last time I've worked up a sweat like this, hahaha!" Jaeger laughed.

"Indeed… thank you, General Jaeger." Selvaria said.

"You're welcome… now I must depart. My orders are to move my forces towards Vasel city in preparation for Lord Maximilian's attack."

"Allow me to walk you out." Selvaria offered and the two began to head down to the lower levels, where Jaegers forces and tank were waiting.

"Before I go… there's something I'd like to talk to you about." said Jaeger, now sounding slightly nervous.

"Yes? What is it?"

"Are you… going to go through with it?"

Selvaria stopped walking and thought about the orders that she was giving by Lord Maximilian himself, before he left to man the Marmota. Maximilian's mightiest weapon of war.

"It is my Lords wish, and I will obey," said Selvaria, closing her eyes and sighing. "Even if it costs me my life."

Jaeger groaned softly, "Hrmmm… For what purpose will it be?"

Selvaria looked over at Jaeger and smiled, reaching her hand up to her cheek and holding it there. She thought back to the other day.

After receiving her final orders from Lord Maximilian to use the final flame of the Valkyria, he walked up to her, place his hand on her cheek and while looking into her teary eyes, said, "Farewell, Selvaria."

That was all Selvaria needed, so she responded to Jaeger by saying, "For love, for honour, for my Lord Maximilian…"

"I see… so this is it then, we won't meet again…" Jaeger said

Selvaria slowly nodded her head, "…Yes… the last time we'll stand together like this…"

Jaeger extended his hand out for one final handshake, "Farewell, Selvaria…"

Selvaria took his hand, "Farewell, General Jaeger…"

Once Jaeger was ready to enter the hatch to his tank, he gave Selvaria one last look, then disappeared inside. His tank and those of his armoured unit then followed him out of the base and off into the distance.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at Fort Amatirain, Vyse was walking across the base towards the tank hangers, to find Lieutenant Welkin Gunther after being summoned. He was busy thinking about the upcoming mission to head to the mighty citadel of Ghirlandaio, and about Aika's return and the formation of his new squad.

As he got closer to the hangers, an unknown girl in a regular army uniform bumped into him, "Whoa!" Vyse cried, "Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going. Are you alrigh-?"

He stopped and gasped when he looked down and saw that it was Alicia Melchiott, and she was dressed in the uniform of a regular soldier. Her headscarf was gone. She had streaks of tears visible on her cheeks, and she was still crying.

"Oh… Vyse… I'm sorry…" she said, then started to walk away while hugging herself and continuing to cry.

Vyse ran back to her and put his hand on her shoulder, "No, wait! Where are you going? Why are you dressed in a regular's uniform?"

Alicia stopped, then turned to Vyse, "Hold on… let me see something first…"

Alicia then stepped forward and placed her hands on Vyse's cheeks and brought his face close to hers. Then, she looked deeply into his eyes and remained silent for a few moments.

"Yes… I thought so… You were this close to me before…" Alicia said as she released Vyse, then without saying anything else, she turned and continued walking away.

"No wait, Alicia! Come back!" Vyse called out,

Then, she shrieked in a voice so loud, "Alicia! You're a Valkyria, aren't you? You've had this power all along! Why didn't you use your powers sooner? All those people, you could have saved all those people that day!"

Vyse stopped dead cold, his mouth dropping open and gasping… he remembered those words.

Alicia then turned to Vyse, "That's what you said to me at Naggiar… isn't it?"

Vyse closed his mouth and his head dropped slightly, "Alicia… I…"

"I don't remember much when my powers surfaced… I do however… remember seeing the face of a very angry boy glaring at me… and a voice filled with such anger… screaming at me…"

"Alicia… that was-"

Alicia shook her head, "I'm not angry, Vyse. I am however… so sorry that you lost so many people that were so close to you that day."

Another tear slowly fell from Alicia's eye, and then down her cheek as she continued, "You were right. I could have saved all those people that day, and how many more before it... If only my powers came to me far sooner than Naggiar… You would still have your beloved, Nadine. And Welkin would still have Juno Coren… and all the other Sevens… never would have lost their friends and loved ones."

"Alicia…"

"I'm going to make sure that that never happens again, Vyse. I'm going to join the Regulars and help them drive the enemy out of Gallia, once and for all. I swear to you, no one else will lose someone close to them… No one will feel the pain that we have…"

"Alicia, don't-"

Alicia then rushed forward and hugged Vyse, "I just wanted to say… thank you for everything, Vyse. For coming here from a far off land and fighting along side us for so long. You've helped so many members of Squad Seven in ways that only you and Aika could. For that and all your other brave and kind actions... I'll repay you in the only that way I know how…

I'll make sure this war sees a swift end so that you and Aika can return home… safe and sound."

Alicia then let go of Vyse and said, "Farewell, Vyse Inglebard… say goodbye to the rest of the squad for me. This'll be the last time you get to see me like this..."

She then started to walk away once more, but Vyse called out to her, "Alicia!"

Suddenly, Alicia's body became ablaze in blue flame, she looked back with her burning red eyes, and in a terrifying and otherworldly voice she shouted, "Alicia is gone! I am all that remains, and I am Valkyria! Do not try to stop me, mortal! It would be unwise!"

Vyse's heart thumped deeply in his chest, a cold sweat running down his cheeks and forehead. Even for someone as brave as himself, he could no longer move his limbs, "How long has it been since I felt this fear… like the crushing weight of the deep seas…"

Alicia's body then returned to normal and she set out again. This time, Vyse dropped to his knees and fell forward onto his hands. "No… Alicia… I did not mean to hurt you this much… if only I could take back those words..."

* * *

**_Greetings readers, Snowman here. Yeah, this is a little short and not of very good quality. But I figured that it was finally time to add a new chapter to Adventures in War as I have not done so in many months._**

**_Also, I want to say 'THANK YOU!' to everyone who has been following my story from the very start. It's hard for me to believe that it's been TWO YEARS since I started 'Adventures in War' So I'm not sure if that's something to be proud of, or if I should kick myself for not finishing it sooner and letting it get dragged out for this long :P_**

**_I'll try to get it updated more often and finished, I don't see many more chapters till we reach the end. Maybe I'm stalling because once it's over, I'm not sure what I'm gonna do :P So yeah, that's all for now. Please Read and Review :) and again, Thank you for following this story for the two whole years its been since it was started!_**


	58. Chapter 58

**Chapter 57- Respect and Honour among warriors**

It was quite some time after the battle of Naggiar. The Imperials had been in retreat ever since they suffered such a crushing defeat, both to their army and their leader to Gallia's Valkyria. Now that the enemy was on the run, the Gallian army and militia kept up the momentum, steadily pushing the Imperials further and further back towards the Empire.

Squad Seven and a large group of regular army soldiers were advancing towards a small blockade of Imperial soldiers. Despite being heavily outnumbered, the Imperials resisted, their orders were to hold their ever crumbling lines for as long as possible. But their current force comprised mainly of foot soldiers and a few pillboxes. Also a few trenches, sandbags and barbed wire were all that held their line together. There were no tanks to spare, since the Imperials had lost many of them at the battle of Naggiar. What remained were called back to Ghirlandaio.

As he looked on, Vyse couldn't help but feel sorry for the Imperials. This battle was playing out the same as all the others… a slaughter.

"All forces! Open fire!" General Damon's voice shouted from the safety of his heavy tank.

Thunderous booms and the rattling of machine gun, rifle and lancer fire rang out all along the huge Gallian line of soldiers, tanks and artillery guns, mercilessly pounding the Imperial lines. The soldiers and tank of Squad Seven didn't participate in this battle. A few more bullets, shells and lancaar rounds wouldn't make any difference here. It would all be over soon...

* * *

Suddenly, all the firing from the Gallian side stopped. The tanks went into reverse and the soldiers quickly shuffled backwards. The Imperials also stopped firing, probably out of confusion at the sudden lull in the heat of battle.

Then came the familiar humming sound, followed by a single glowing figure walking towards the Imperial line. Dozens of helmets and heads peeked over the tops of their trenches and through the slits of their stone pillboxes. A wave of gasps echoed all across the battle line as they spotted her, Gallia's Valkyria. They all began to shake in their boots, their guns rattled in their trembling hands. Their breathing became quicker as their terror levels increased.

"The Valkyria has arrived!" One Imperial soldier shouted.

At the same time, Alicia lowered her lance and took aim. But not at the center of the Imperial line, rather, to the right of it. She then fired off a beam shot and dragged it a short distance from right to left, cutting a hole in the barbed wire barricades.

No sooner had an opening been created, than did numerous regular army tanks and running soldiers start to pour through it and move to circle around the Imperials to flank them from the rear.

Clearly, this wasn't what General Damon had ordered, "Sergeant Melchiott! I gave you a direct order! Kill those Imperials with your valkyrian weapon! Wipe them out!" His voice rang from the speaker attached to this tank.

* * *

Welkin then emerged from the Edelweiss, via the turret hatch. He didn't say anything, but he stared at Alicia's still standing form. Silently pleaded her not to do it, as did all the Sevens, including Vyse and Aika.

* * *

But, Alicia dropped her head and sighed. A second later, she raised her spiral lance back up and took aim at the center of the Imperial line where most of the troops and pillboxes were stationed. Her blue spiral lance began to spin and charge up with the signature glowing blue energy, accompanied with the eerie shrieking sound.

Then came a sight that caused everyone to gasp all at once. All of the Imperials, even the officers in black, quickly climbed out of the trenches, exited the pillboxes and began to run towards the only place where there weren't Gallian's… the nearby lake to the left of their line.

Imperial soldiers were cursing or screaming in fear. They dropped or tossed aside their rifles, machine guns, lances as they ran. Then they entered the water, running or diving straight into it. Some had the sense to try and take off their grey armour and helmets as they ran towards the lake, others went into it fully armoured. More than a hundred bodies then tried to desperately swim to the other side of the lake… well over a mile away.

* * *

General Damon's screaming voice was the only thing that pried Vyse's eyes away from such a sad sight.

"Shoot them! Sergeant Melchiott! Don't let them escape!"

Two tears were already running down Alicia's cheeks as she watched the Imperials try to get away from her. Some swam with able enough skill, others were thrashing around in the water, unable to swim. The ones with their armour on struggled to keep their heads above water, mostly it was only their arms and hands that were visible above the waters surface.

Unable to take it anymore, Alicia turned to General Damon, "NO!" She screamed, "I will not do this anymore!"

Before General Damon could protest, Alicia took off at blinding speed, leaving a blue trail of light that headed away from the battlefield.

"Forget her. All regulars! Don't let a single Imperial get away! Kill them all! Remember all those these Imp bastards murdered in the past!"

The regular army soldiers cheered and they all charged forward, firing as they went. The tanks fired their shells, causing huge plumes of water to shoot high into the sky where they impacted. Screaming Imperials were also thrown into the air from the explosions. Others were shot in the back as they continued to try and get away. Dozens of bodies, or parts of bodies were bobbing in the water as it slowly turned from blue to blood red.

Aika didn't want to watch such a massacre, but it was something that she nor anyone else could pry their eyes from. Just then, she felt a hand wrap around her eyes. She reached up and instinctively said, "Vyse?"

"Yeah…" he said softly, "Let's get out of here… we don't need to see this."

"Yes. Please, take me away…"

Vyse then turned and led Aika away, the other Sevens did the same and turned away from the laughing, cheering regular soldiers as they continue to mercilessly shoot all the Imperials in the lake.

* * *

Sometime later, Vyse was returning to the lakes edge and looked out at the water. He couldn't count how many bodies were floating and bobbing in bloody red water, not to mention how many armoured Imperials lay at the bottom, but he knew this lake would never be as it once was.

Vyse lowered his head and sighed. These past few days had been the bloodiest fighting he had ever witnessed. Now, Vyse felt nothing but sorrow for the Imperials. It was a very confusing feeling to have to feel. Even remembering all his squad mates who had been killed in the past wasn't enough to help him take part in the fighting these days. Not that it could be called that anymore.

"What's on your mind, sir?" a familiar female voice asked.

Vyse looked over and spotted Marina sitting along the bank, she was casually tossing stones into the water.

"Nothing, I just…"

"You feel bad for these Imperials?"

Vyse shook his head, "Why do they stay and fight when they know it's hopeless. They don't have the same goal as we do; to defend our homeland from invasion. Why don't they just leave?"

"They're preparing themselves, sir. For the upcoming battle at Ghirlandaio, I'm sure of it."

"Still, I don't understand how they can just sacrifice this many of their troops this way. Do you really think the battle at Ghirlandaio will be any different than this and all the other battles recently?"

"I don't know, sir. But we must continue to fight, if they continue to oppose us, sir."

Vyse sighed, "Yes, but… I don't wanna watch another massacre…"

* * *

Early the next day, Aika, Vyse and a few of the other scouts of Squad Seven were stealthily approaching the massive fortress of Ghirlandaio. It was a sight to behold. Aika and the others stopped crawling through the tall grass. She took out her binoculars, and she could see the enormous stone structure, armed to the teeth with artillery, mortar and machine guns galore. It's mighty gates were sealed shut. On the ground, dozens of Imperial soldiers could be seen scurrying about. Placing mines in the ground and burying them, moving in and out of the trenches, carrying boxes of ammo to and from the trenches, machine gun nests and other places.

Aika's hands were trembling as she lowered her binoculars and looked over at Vyse, "Looks like all the easy battles are over, Vyse. This upcoming battle may be even harder to win than the battle of Naggiar."

Vyse just nodded. After Aika and the others jotted down their observations into their scout notepads, Vyse waved his head back and everyone slowly crawled back to the encampment to rejoin the rest of the squad. And to give their findings to Captain Varrot and the planners for tomorrows massive assault.

* * *

Later in the afternoon, a meeting was held between all the senior officers, Captain Varrot and officers from the regular army. Unfortunately this included General Damon, commander of the regular army.

"Squad Seven shall lead the attack. You lot have proven yourself throughout the war and you shall have the honour of being first in line for tomorrows assault." General Damon said with an evil grin.

Vyse shook his head, he knew that was just his way of trying to get rid of the Sevens, like he always had in the past. The Sevens by now were the best fighting unit among all the militia squads, perhaps even the regular army. And this was stealing the spot light away from General Damon and his regulars.

"What of the emissary we sent?" Vyse asked, "We have offered the Imperials a chance to surrender, right?"

"Ha! We're not giving them the chance. They invaded us and now we have them on the run! This is payback!" General Damon responded.

"But that's uncalled for! They deserve a chance to surrender peacefully! I thought we were supposed to be the good guys!"

"Careful, boy… My patience has limits and you're testing them right now."

Vyse turned to Captain Varrot, "Captain! This isn't right! You can't seriously-"

Captain Varrot raised her hand and shook her head, she didn't want to join in this argument. "I'm sorry, Sergeant Inglebard. But we must drive these Imperials out of Gallia as quick as we can. There is much work to be done to repair the damage they have caused. The sooner they're out, the sooner our country can start to heal itself."

Welkin then stepped forward, "General Damon, if I may ask… Where is Alicia?"

General Damon sighed and stroked his beard, "We haven't seen her since the last battle, but she's done her part. The final battle shall be ours to win!"

"So she's of no more use to you and you don't care whatever else happens or what you put her through?" Vyse protested angrily.

"And what of it, boy? She's a freak of nature! I'd prefer her out of the camp when we don't need her than to be mingling with my regulars, thinking she's anything like us."

"You unimaginable bas-"

"Sergeant Inglebard! That's enough! Concentrate on the mission and getting ready for it. Nothing else."

Vyse pounded the table angrily then left the tent. "What is happening… even the Captain won't offer them a chance to surrender peacefully."

* * *

Later in the evening, Vyse was walking along the outskirts of the large encampment. He spotted Marina sitting on a rock, her rifle propped up beside her. She was looking out towards the mighty fortress and seemed lost in thought.

Vyse took up a sitting position right beside her, "Are you ready for tomorrows mission?" Vyse asked.

"As ready as I can be, sir." said Marina, "I've been listening to the soldiers and scouts all day, sir. They say the Imperial Valkyria is inside the fortress and is commanding its defence. There have been no sightings of the prince or any other generals."

Vyse slowly stood up and looked towards Ghirlandaio, "…Selvaria's in there…"

"Does that concern you, sir?" Marina asked. "After what happened at Naggiar, I can understand if-"

"I harbour no ill feelings towards Selvaria. She was a soldier, no, a warrior doing her duty."

Marina raised an eyebrow, "You respect her?"

"It's more like we have an understanding of one another. She knows of honour, loyalty to a cause and even showing respect to your enemy and offering them mercy."

Vyse sighed deeply, "Marina… I'm going to be trying something."

"What is it?"

Vyse went on without answering at first, "Should anything happen to me, I want you to assume command, got it?"

"I think I know where this is going…"

"The regulars won't show the Imperials any mercy tomorrow, they'll kill each and everyone of them... Just like at Lake Mead yesterday. Even the Captain won't give it a chance."

"But you will?"

"If there's even a chance, no matter how small, I want to try. I've watched too many massacres already. So I'm going to the fortress and try to talk to their leader.

I need you to go back to the tent and keep Aika and the others occupied. I'm going alone, I won't ask anyone else of my squad to take part in my risky adventure."

"…Alright…"

Vyse smirked, "That's it? You're not going to protest or call me utterly crazy for even thinking of this so called plan?"

"If that is what you choose, I will accept it. This isn't the first time you asked a favour from me."

* * *

A short while later, Vyse had successfully snuck out of camp and was making his way towards the fortress at a jog. He wasn't wearing his armour, his machine gun was left at the camp, but he still kept his gleaming white sword attached to his belt.

He came to a stop and looked around, but something was off. This time around the busy activity he and Aika scouted earlier was gone. Wind blew across the dusty, rocky ground. Not a soul was visible. Vyse looked to his left, then his right. Only a few birds were cawing overhead, the wind blowing steadily.

Suddenly, a few rocks fell to the ground from the nearby canyon walls. Vyse sighed deeply, he felt a tinge of fear creep up his spine. But only for a moment, "It's alright, you can come out!" Vyse shouted, his voice echoing across the canyon walls. "I'm alone and unarmed! I come bearing a message for your leader, General Selvaria Bles!"

Then, all at once, dozens of helmeted heads appeared from the nearby trenches. Imperial soldiers that were once hidden in the tall grass slowly stood up and aimed their rifles and machine guns at Vyse. In only a matter of seconds, Vyse was surrounded on all sides by a hundred soldiers, maybe more.

Vyse held his arms out to the side, showing he didn't come to fight. That was when an officer dressed in black approached and looked Vyse over with a careful eye, determining the threat level.

"Remove the sword," He ordered to two of his soldiers. They each bowed slightly, then moved to complete the order and quickly removed Vyse's sword and handed it to the officer.

"Speak quickly, Gallian. What message do you bring?"

Vyse shook his head, "My message is for General Bles and General Bles alone, sir."

Many of the soldiers looked at each other, some chuckled, others shook their heads.

The officer stared at Vyse, trying to see if he really was serious. This lone soldier showed no fear, and looked determined to get his message through.

"What makes you think the General would wish to be bothered by such a low ranking soldier?"

Vyse smiled, "Are you going to take me, or aren't you? I haven't got all day."

"Very well, but we can't have you scout out our defences on your way through." The officer then nodded to a single soldier standing directly behind Vyse.

Suddenly, Vyse's vision turned to black as a dark hood was placed over his head. He also felt his hands being tied behind his back. A sudden ***thwack*** against the back of his head made him see brightly spinning stars inside the hood, and he almost dropped, but arms wrapped themselves under his armpits and he was now being dragged. Then, he lost consciousness.

* * *

The next thing Vyse knew, the coldest bucket of water was splashed against his face, followed by a hard slap to the cheek.

"Wake up, boy! The General's on her way!" The same officer in black said as a soldier with a bucket in hand sidestepped away. Another soldier had the black hood back in hand.

Vyse tried to move his hands, but found they were still bound behind his back. Now, he took a good look at his new surroundings. He soon learned that he was inside the mighty fortress. Looking over his shoulder he spotted the huge metal doors closed shut, trapping him inside. Looking all around he saw numerous buildings, troop barracks, supply sheds and elevators next to staircases and huge towers on either side of the fortress.

As he looked at the staircase to his left, he spotted her, General Selvaria Bles. She was slowly descending the stairs and looking at Vyse with surprise in her eyes.

"So… we meet again… Arcadian." said Selvaria.

Vyse nodded, "I've only come to speak with you, nothing more."

Selvaria nodded back, "Who sent you? The Regular army? The Militia?"

Vyse shook his head, "No one sent me. I came here on my own. I wanted to see you and talk to you."

Selvaria smirked, "You're very brave, Arcadian." Selvaria then swiftly drew her rapier, causing the soldiers all around Vyse to move away. She then held the tip right against Vyse's throat, "I could take the life of one of Squad Sevens finest soldiers in the blink of an eye if I wanted to."

Then, to everyone's surprise, even Selvaria, Vyse grinned at her. "You could… but you won't."

"What makes you so sure?"

"Because… you're a true warrior… just like me. We both know of the code of honour among warriors and soldiers. And that there is none to be gained by killing an unarmed opponent off the battlefield."

Selvaria slowly lowered her blade, then put it back into its sheath and smiled. "I admire your courage, Arcadian..." She then turned to the soldiers, "Release him."

Vyse's hands were then cut free from their bonds and he rubbed his wrists.

Selvaria turned to the officer in black from before, She held out her hand, "His sword."

The officer holding the white and gold scabbard covered sword then passed it to her handle first. Selvaria admired its detail and beauty for a moment, then held it out to Vyse.

All of the soldiers and officers gathered around, gasped. "General, I don't think you should-"

An angry glare shut the officer up in an instant, "Don't question me!"

Vyse then took his sword back from Selvaria, bowed respectfully then put it back onto his belt. That was when Selvaria noticed for the first time the dampness of his hair and the wound on his head.

"What happened here?" Selvaria demanded, "Who did this to this boy? He didn't deserve to be harmed if he came here of his own free will!"

The officer in black gulped, "My apologies, General Bles. But I thought it only safe that I-"

Selvaria gripped her Rapier handled and glared angrily at him, "Get out of my sight! Before I put you down for your severe lack of respect for so brave a soldier!"

The officer quickly back away, then turned and quickly headed off before it was too late to do so.

Selvaria released her rapier handle, then bowned to Vyse. She then turned to her soldiers, "This is what respect looks like, men. Some among our enemy are worthy of that respect."

"Thank you, General Bles." Vyse said with a smile.

Selvaria waved her escort of soldiers away, then turned back to Vyse, "Come, I'll hear what you have to say."

Vyse then followed Selvaria up the nearby staircase to the upper levels. They walked in silence, getting a lot of stares from all the soldiers inside the citadel. Their general walking next to a Gallian Militia soldier armed with a fancy sword.

Once they were at the top of the citadel, Selvaria turned to all her soldiers, "Give us the level!" she ordered. And all the troops stopped what they were doing and quickly descended the staircases, completely abandoning the top level.

Vyse then spoke, "General… I hope that somehow… we can end this without having to fight."

"I have given my word to my Lord Maximilian that I would defend this citadel to the last man."

"Please, General. Think of your men." Vyse pleaded. "The force they're sending here numbers in the thousands... wave upon wave of tank and soldiers will crash against these walls tomorrow. Please, surrender while you still can.

I will even help you! I'll try and talk to the princess herself and see if she can offer you all mercy and a chance to return to the Empire in peace."

Selvaria walked a short distance away, sighed, then turned back to Vyse, "Your offer is commendable, Arcadian. But I'm afraid I must decline. No one is stationed here against their will, they volunteered to defend this citadel with their commander. And it makes no difference how many you send here. Your forces will come and we will make our stand, as true warriors and soldiers should."

"I understand... I know what it means to fight for a cause that you believe in, that is worth defending with your life. But I think we've both seen too much war, too much killing. I'd like to see this end without any bloodshed." Vyse replied, "It would be such a terrible shame to see so fine a warrior die..."

"Why do you care so much? Aren't I your enemy?"

"Yes, but I've come to respect you a great deal. You're a worthy adversary, but I'd rather not fight you again, if it can be helped."

"You're still able to say that, even after what happened at Naggiar?" Selvaria asked.

"I hold no grudge against you for what happened. You were doing your duty, as I was doing mine."

Selvaria looked away and took up a seating position on the ledge of the wall, "My respect for you continues to grow… but we both know that there can be no alternative to having to fight tomorrows battle that will come as surely as the sun will rise and set. And I will fight it and lead my men into battle… will you?"

Vyse sighed, "Honestly… I thought about sitting this one out… But I can't do that. Because… I too fight for what I love and believe in."

"I understand. Then I will see you on the battlefield tomorrow." said Selvaria.

Vyse sighed and lowered his head and gave it a slow nod, "…Yes…"

When he raised his head back up, he noticed Selvaria's eyes looking at his new sword. He smiled and slowly drew it, then held it out to her with two hands. She looked at him for a moment, then took the sword and turned it around, admiring its exquisite beauty. A whole new level of craftsmanship compared to the sword she last saw him with.

"A gift from her royal highness, Princess Cordelia. Presented to me the moment I gained full citizen status in Gallia."

Selvaria handed the sword back to Vyse and he put it back into its sheath. Selvaria then drew her rapier and held it out to Vyse. He took it and examined the remarkable craftsmanship that went into making her rapier. He handled it with great care as he looked it over, just as she had shown to him, he knew a warriors weapon was their soul, as much a part of them as anything else.

"A gift from my Lord Maximilian himself. Presented to me the moment I became a general in his army."

"In all the lands I have travelled, I have never seen its equal." Vyse complimented as he carefully passed the sword back to her and she slide it slowly back into its sheath.

"Perhaps, if the fates are kind, then our swords will get the chance to meet once more." said Vyse.

Selvaria nodded, "We shall wait and see..." she said, "Now Go, return to your encampment. No one will stop you, you have my word."

Once Vyse got back to the staircase, a small squad of soldiers was waiting to take him back to the main gates. Before he left, he turned back, drew his sword and held the handle up to his face with the blade pointed towards the sky, a respectful military salute to his adversary, Selvaria Bles. She drew her rapier and returned the salute, to a fellow warrior that she had come to respect and admire.

* * *

**_I got the urge to write this after playing Dragon Age 2 and watching Gettysburg and witnessed the respect that can be formed even among enemies that have to face eachother in battle. And I thought that Selvaria and Vyse were similar in that they were brave warriors, but were both seemingly out of place in the war. But fighting for a cause they both believed in._**

**_Selvaria is a Valkyria, but she's the only one of her kind, so she must sometimes feel as if she's alone. And Vyse is from a far off land, but fighting on the other side of the war. He too is out of place, but is also a very brave, charismatic warrior and born leader. I think Selvaria would possibly admire those qualities._**


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